I Could Be The One
by lforlinstead
Summary: "Okay lab partner assignments. Brooke Davis, you'll be partnering with ... Jay Halstead." Oh great, the new boy. I zoned out thinking about how I was going to cope working with him. The boy who hadn't even said two words to me since he appeared in class two weeks ago.
1. Chapter 1

"Okay lab partner assignments!" said Mr Fisher as he looked at us, probably to see which students were present. I watched as he took his eyes from us to look down at the lists he had in his hand. He glared at me for a second before a wide smirk spread across his face.

"Brooke Davis, you'll be partnering with ( _Please God no one stupid, or annoying, o g)_ Jay Halstead."

Oh great, probably just as bad. The new kid. So I was going to have to play babysitter. He was sitting at the opposite end of the room to me and I watched as he moved over to the side where I was. I squirmed as he got up out of his chair and came to occupy the one next to me. I felt my chair bump a little as his collided with mine. Wow, so much for personal space. Did he want to sit on my knee or something?

Professor Fisher finished his list, but I zoned out thinking about how I was gonna have to cope with working with this boy. The boy who I hadn't even said two words to since he appeared in this class two weeks ago. The boy who was sitting next to me now, making notes. Pages of notes. _Nerd._

I turned around to find him still in the same position as before. He had so much of the desk and I was leaning as far away from him as possible, in a bid to have breathing room. He was scribbling quickly into his notepad, he didn't even seem to notice that I was looking at him. Or that this project was _supposed_ to be a joint effort apparently.

I made an effort to clear my throat and he slowly dropped his pen onto the desk. He eventually turned to me, gave me a smile and a shrug. It took him a second to open his mouth but, when he finally did, Fisher interrupted.

"Okay class, so this project is gonna be happening for the rest of the semester. I want you to take this seriously. Your task is to pick a famous figure from history or present time and tell us, the rest of the class about them. Why are they important?"

I fought to not clasp my hands together, I had so many ideas.

Fisher continued. "Now I want this task to be thorough," he raised his eyebrows, scanning the room at the pairs he'd just created. "So that means you're going to be spending a _lot_ of time together."

Awesome. So if having to be with the new boy wasn't punishment enough, I now had to hang with him on my personal time? Didn't Prof Fisher realize I have a social life? I don't need to be spending hours of my day with this Jay Halstead, I had better things to _do._

If I didn't want to have to work outside of class, I was gonna try my hardest to get the work done while we were still in it.

I pushed my hair behind my ear and turned around to face Jay. He'd stopped writing, shock, and was staring at me instead. Like, staring at my body. It was as if he hadn't seen a girl before, like he was inspecting my skirt and my tank. I folded my arms across my chest.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" He jumped when I spoke, and I figured he hadn't realized I saw he was staring. His eyes went wide and he looked back at his notepad.

I tried hard not to laugh at his reaction, I was used to boys staring but not boys like Jay. He turned so quickly and I swear there was color that flushed his cheeks. It was almost like he was embarrassed that I caught him.

His notepad was full of written pages, so I reached across to move it closer. In an attempt to read what he'd already written. No doubt he'd picked something or someone and I'd have no idea who they were. My hand reached the spine of the notepad before he tugged it back in his direction. I found it weird.

I raised my eyebrows at him, but he still didn't look back at me. "You've kinda gotta share if it's a _group_ project." I notioned towards the book and laughed. "Come on, let's see what you've been working on."

It was like he didn't want me to see what he'd written already and made no attempt to let me see what was in the book. When I stopped with the question, he finally lifted his head and looked at me again. This time, he managed to find my face.

I realized I'd never heard him speak before, so was surprised when I heard the out-of-town accent.

"That's not for this class, it's … other stuff." His voice was quiet but I managed to figure the New Yorker in him.

"Okay, fine." I crossed my legs beneath the desk and rested my elbows on top of it. Jay's eyes travelled to where my tank had dropped, but he averted his eyes when I cleared my throat. "So did you have ideas for this one? Maybe you should work on stuff for _this_ class in _this_ class." I got that he was the new kid, but I wasn't gonna work by myself on this. He was going to have to put work in too.

He looked a little taken back, but I hadn't said it to be harsh. I just figured if we got work done here, I would have to spend time with him outside of class. I saw him turn to a different section in his notepad.

"I have a few maybe you could look at them?" This time, he slid the pages towards me and I felt my eyes widen as I looked at his list. There must have been twenty or so individuals on there, and I hadn't heard of any of them. I felt my brow furrow as I continued to look down the page. There were names at the end that I did recognize.

"Shakespeare?" I turned my head towards him. "Really?"

"I like Shakespeare." He said bluntly.

 _As if he could be any more of a nerd._ "I am not writing about Shakespeare. How about Coco Chanel?"

"Who?"

Was he serious? He didn't know who Coco Chanel was? One of the most famous fashion designers to ever have lived? Had this boy been living under a rock? Was he having me on?

By the look he was giving me, he wasn't. He was waiting for me to answer him. Oh God, he _was_ serious.

I rolled my eyes, trying to hide it from him but I think he saw. "Okay so Coco Chanel is a no-go." I scanned the rest of his list quickly and didn't have a clue who the majority of the names were. I must have been too quiet for too long because he spoke to me soon after.

"Come on Brooke Davis, you must have ideas on who you want to write about. Somebody who I might know too."

Oh so he _could_ talk. His accent was kind of mesmorizing to me, the kind I'd only heard before in movies and the kind I thought ceased to exist in real life.

I quickly told myself to snap out of that mindset, telling myself that the accent was the only attractive thing about him. For sakes, he was the _new kid._

"Well, I don't." I shrugged, registering the fact he was still staring at my face. I was stuck with this creep who didn't know what personal space was, knew nothing when it came to famous fashionistas and apparently liked to stare.

There was no way I was going to do this project on somebody like Shakespeare, i couldn't understand his stupid language and I had no intention of changing that. At the same time, it was apparent Jay wouldn't write on someone from the fashion industry either. I realized we had to find common ground and we had to find it quickly.

It was a harder task than I imagined. Who knew two people could be so different. Every possibility I brought up was a no-go for him.

"Brad Pitt?" Everyone knew who Brad Pitt was.

Jay scrunched up his face. "Ass." I watched as he shook his head, dismissing again my idea from the circle.

The fact that he cursed made me laugh. He'd barely strung two sentences together to talk to me and apparently already felt comfortable enough to cuss. I didn't know how to respond, but I think he heard me laughing. "I didn't think you'd be one to swear," I shrugged, maybe thinking I'd gotten his character wrong. I'd been guilty of doing that in the past and God only knows how many times people had done it to me.

"You clearly don't know me well enough then Brooke Davis." ( _Okay, hello ballsy!)_ "And I think we have to change that."

Okay, this was the point where I didn't know what to respond. He'd gone from the quiet new kid to my lab partner and somebody who told me to get to know him. And after the way he spoke, I kind of did. I did want to know more about him. He clearly wasn't the shy kid I'd got the vibes of. There was something there that was intriguing.

I opened my mouth to respond, to tell him we had to find common interest for this project. It just kind of ended up hanging in the air, because the school bell sounded before I got the chance.

It was the end of the school day, I was going home but Jay clearly had somewhere to be. I watched him as he quickly gathered together his stuff and shoved them in his bag. He headed back to the other desk to retrieve his jacket before sliding his arms through it then putting his rucksack around his shoulders.

Just as I thought he was about to leave without saying anything, I felt a hot breath beside my ear.

"I'll see you around Brooke Davis." With that, he walked away.

I fought hard to ignore the shiver I felt travel my spine, packed together my things and headed for my car.

Peyton Sawyer was waiting for me when I got there. Shoot, I'd forgotten I'd carpooled my best friend in today. She was leaning against the trunk and stood as soon as she saw me.

"Hey B Davis there you are. Where have you been?" She threw her hands on her hips, as if she was allowed to scold me for being late. That was _always_ her job.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "I've been in class," I said as I unlocked the doors. "Now get in, I wanna leave."

"Okay feisty, what got into you? What class did you just come from?" She said as she shut the door at her side.

"Professor Fisher's," I rolled my eyes as I spoke and I heard her groan in response. We both knew what Professor Fisher was like, if his class was last period then we were never out on time.

"I should have known," she commented as I put the car in drive. "What did he have you guys doing today?"

P Sawyer had to know every last detail when we didn't have class together. I kept my eyes on the road and we made it out of the school parking lot.

"He paired us to do a project on-"

"Who did he put you with?" She cut in, obviously making sure I hadn't left class with a new BFF or something. Of course, that would never happen.

"He put me with Jay Halstead, you know.. the new kid."

"Oh the new kid! What's he like?"

I struggled for a second to find the right adjectives to describe him. I couldn't tell her the trth yet, until I figured out the truth myself. "He seems nice."

Peyton raised her eyebrows. She knew me and she knew when I was bullshitting. "He seems _nice_?"

"Yeah," I pretended to focus extra hard on the road in front of me but I could feel her eyes burning the side of my face. "What?"

As soon as I turned to face her, she pretended not to be looking at me. She stared straight ahead. "Oh, nothing."

"No come on, what is it?"

"I know that look, B Davis. There's something you're not telling me. You think he's cute."

I gasped at her. "I do _not_ think he's cute!"

"See that there, that's denial. You think he's cuuute." She repeated.

"No I do no-" I fought to protest.

"Yes you do." _Okay fine Peyton you win._

"Fine. I guess he's cute."

"Aha! I knew it! So a project together huh? That means spending _time_ together. What's Brad going to think?"

She finished her sentence just as I reached home. Brad's truck was already in my driveway. I wanted to groan, but not in front of Peyton.

"Relax," I said. "I said he was cute, not that I wanted to _date_ him."

Peyton said nothing as we got out of the car, but I swore I saw a smirk on her face.

 **So I hope y'all enjoy this one. Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Brad was already standing in my kitchen when me and Peyton walked through the door. I hadn't expected to see my boyfriend tonight, I knew it was game day yet here he was leaning against the counter. And he'd already helped himself through my food supplies, apparently. He was standing eating a packet of cookies and looked up when we came in.

"Hey, babe." He was already dressed in his basketball stuff, so I knew he was here to ask us to go to the game. Which I could do without, but I suppose I had to go along and be the supportive girlfriend. I didn't really have an excuse not to go. Brad walked over to me and leaned in to kiss me. I half-smiled as he put his lips over my own, remembering Peyton was in the room.

"Hi," I pulled away from him to get food myself, I was starved and I had to eat if I had to go to the game later. I searched the fridge real quick but everything in there had to be made up. For now, I reached into the fruit bowl and grabbed an apple. "What are you doing here?" I didn't wanna sound rude, but he usually called before he showed up at my house. And it was weird that he was here before me.

"I was just checking you're still coming to the game," He seemed to check me out and then looked at Peyton. "Bring Peyton if you like." His tone had hallowed, and it wasn't hard to see why.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the best of arrangements that my boyfriend and my best friend didn't get on. In fact, that near enough _hated_ each other. And it was difficult for me, because I needed them both in my life. So they were just going to have to live with it.

"I'll be there," I promised, knowing if I was going to make it I had to get ready. When I moved to go out of the room, Brad seemed to get what I was doing and nodded at the both of us. His keys were on the table so he grabbed them, kissed me again quickly and nearly ran for the car.

I watched as he walked outside, towards his jeep. It didn't hurt that he was dressed in his football shirt, Brad was the most attractive guy in school and the fact he was the star of the team made him seem even more attractive. I must have been staring for a while because I heard P Sawyer clear her throat. I turned back around to face her, she was still standing in the doorway to the kitchen and probably could guess what I had been looking at for so long.

"I saw that," She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Saw what?" I knew she would be referring to the fact I was behaving like a love-sick puppy and watching my boyfriend drive away from my house. Which I probably didn't have to do, I'd be seeing him again in a few hours.

"The thing you did when he kissed you. I saw you weren't into it," Her eyebrows were still raised, and apparently giving me the standard P Sawyer sass was her favorite thing to do.

"What are you _talking_ about?" Well, it hadn't been what I had expected. "Of course I was into it!" If I was being real, I didn't shove my tongue down my boyfriend's throat for the benefit of my best friend. I knew that was something she wouldn't want to see.

Peyton made a scoffing sound and walked past me to the stairs. It was clear she was gonna raid my closet for some clothes to wear for tonight's game. "Okay, whatever you say Brooke Davis."

I wasn't even going to comment on what she had said, I followed her up the stairs. She was my best friend but she did talk some crap sometimes: and this time, she didn't have a _clue_ what she was talking about.

By the time I got to my bedroom, Peyton was already half way through my closet. I don't know why she was even looking at my clothes, besides a few skirts and a couple of my shirts they weren't Peyton's style at all. She seemed to have found something though, and I heard her breathe a sigh of relief as she pulled back her face from my rail of clothes.

"So," she backed away from the wardrobe, heading towards my bed and she sat down. "Are we going to talk about the new boy?"

It was my turn to look now, I needed to be comfortable but I also needed to look _hot._ I went to see Brad's games all the time, but this was a big game for him. "There's nothing to talk about," I hope she'd heard me, my voice might have been muffled as I looked for the particular shirt I had in mind.

"See I know you're lying, I saw you coming out of class with the huge grin on your face. And you didn't even know Brad was going to be here, so it couldn't have been because of him." She wasn't going to let this conversation drop, and I knew that if we were going to make Brad's game, I was going to have to answer.

Groaning, I joined her on my bed and sat in the middle cross-legged. She was already staring at me with anticipation, clearly knowing she was going to get an answer.

I didn't even know what to reply, part of me felt I couldn't be truthful with her. Because it was true, the new guy _had_ kinda got to me in class, the way he'd acted like the quiet kid at first then seemed to be I don't know _flirting?_ I couldn't deny the feeling that had travelled up my body as he'd whispered to me then left too quickly.

"I don't know Peyton," and it was true, I didn't know a lot right now. He seems _interesting_ , there's just something about him. And I guess I'm about to find out, if I'm going to be working with him."

It looked like Peyton was fighting not to clap her hands together in excitement. She just didn't seem to get it, he was _only_ my lab partner and I had a boyfriend. Albeit one she didn't like, but we were still together. And I had very strong feelings for Brad, there was just certain things about him that I wasn't down with. But surely that was the case with all relationships, right? We were in high school, we had time to figure things out.

"Oh, this is exciting! What happens if he's at the game?" She suddenly said, rushing over to my desk and traipsing through my make-up bag. "You need to look good!"

I rolled my eyes towards her. "I _need_ to look good for Brad," I slipped myself out of my stuff I'd worn for school and into the tank I picked from the closet. "And _we_ need to go." I pulled her from the desk and dragged her away from the make-up, down the stairs and into my car.

I had thought we were going to be late, but we made it just in time and sat with the home crowd. The team were already on the court, but I noticed the game hadn't started yet. I scanned the numerous players warming up, clocking my eyes on Brad straight away. He smiled and waved, and I blew a kiss back. I pretended not to hear the retching noises coming from my best friend beside me.

The game was slow and the bleachers were packed: I swore I'd never even seen it this busy. It was then I remembered that the scouts were at the game, the ones looking to grab the boys for their college teams. So all the guys would be riled up, and anything that went wrong tonight meant Brad would be in a bad mood. Great.

Well, things _did_ go wrong and the Ravens totally lost it. I knew it wasn't an important game in terms of stats but it was in terms of the scouts being there. Despite the score, I was in a good mood. And I knew Brad wouldn't be.

That was one of the things that made me pissed about him: if he lost a game, or if he played bad, he couldn't distance himself from that fact and he'd be in a bad mood for the rest of the night. He _was_ a douchebag sometimes, and it was times like this when I kind of understood that Peyton didn't like him. Even if he was about to spend the evening with me, which sucked. How was it my fault? It was even more annoying that I couldn't bring him out of his bad mood which sucked even more for me.

I was vexed already before I was even reunited with Brad. In the midst of me being so distracted thinking about what how he was going to react, I failed to notice Peyton was deep in conversation with a bunch of guys. I narrowed my eyes towards them, I didn't recognize them at all so I thought they must be followers of the other team. Two seconds later she turned around to me.

"Hey B Davis, college party tonight? These guys are hosting," she was acting as though they were best friends already, and I noticed how she was still twirling a strand of her blond hair around an index finger. Her go-to move when she was trying to flirt, and it must have worked if she bagged us an invite to a college party.

For a minute, a college party sounded cool. I had only been to a few, but it was a good opportunity to drink alcohol without really getting caught. If there was ever a bust, I could get lost in the crowd. But then I remembered Brad, and what a bad mood he'd be in when he got out of the locker room. He probably wanted to hang out tonight.

"I can't, I.. Brad."

"Won't even notice you're gone, come on we'll only go for a few hours and then you can go home to your _boyfriend_." Peyton wasn't one to plead with me, but it seemed like she was now. And it seemed like she really wanted to go. I suppose I could go with her for a little while, I wasn't into letting her go alone.

Brad hadn't even made an appearance yet, and I supposed he would be in a bad mood for a while. I wasn't down for bad moods, I decided to go with Peyton.

"Let's go then, before I changed my mind." I got out my cell and dropped Brad a message, telling him I'd gone back to Peyton's and I'd catch up with him later. I felt lousy for lying to him, even lousier at the fact I was probably going to a college frat house to hang out with some guys. And they'd probably have alcohol and shots and stuff. On second thought, maybe it was better I was lying.

By the time we made it to the party, it was getting dark. I grabbed Peyton's hand and we followed the guys she had just met inside. They'd introduced themselves on the journey: Ethan, Will and Zack. I hadn't been paying much attention, I didn't know who was who but I did know their names. One of them looked strangely familiar to me, although right now I couldn't figure out why.

"Holy crap, I can see a bonfire." Peyton whispered, just loud enough for me to hear so the college kids wouldn't think we were just some weird high school girls. "This is gonna be a hell of a party!"

I took her comment lightly, once Peyton had drank alcohol she always got tired and wanted to go home. I was confident she was gonna cut the night short, but I was going to enjoy myself anyway.

It was clear to see nearly everybody here was already wasted and I didn't know if that made me want to leave or made me want to join them. And, it was a much bigger party than I'd ever expected. Peyton was right: there was even a bonfire and it was huge. I could feel the heat from it before I even got to where the main party was.

There were more people there from high school than I expected, and I was certain I recognized about half of the people there. And I knew, I _knew_ people would notice that I was here without Brad.

Peyton though was apparently busy making more friends. She strolled up to me with some guy, and he handed me a red cup full of beer.

"Hey aren't you Brooke Davis?" His eyes narrowed as he scanned my body and I suddenly felt self-conscious. He seemed to be checking me out, like I was a piece of meat. I'd obviously had guys look at me before, but it didn't make me feel any better. All they seemed to do was start at my chest and then move south.

"Where's Brad?" His friend suddenly appeared, looking beside me and behind me which obviously gave him the answer that I was here alone.

The shrug I gave him was all I could manage and I watched the look of apprehension appear on his face. Apparently my body movement was satisfactory and he pointed towards the cup I had in hand. "Come on, drink up! This is a _party!_ "

Peyton's new friends didn't leave but they stepped to the side so I could talk to her. "Did you tell Brad you were here?"

I wasn't sure if she was concerned, or wanting to see if I had lied to him. "Not exactly," it came out the way I hadn't wanted it to, like I was purposely lying to him. Maybe I could call him soon, when he'd had time to calm, and tell him where I was. This was Brad's scene anyway, he'd probably want to come.

Peyton turned to look at me and I saw her smile. But it was such a big smile, it was like she wasn't even trying to be subtle with her feelings towards my boyfriend. I had no idea what her problem was, if she _hated_ him so much at least she could try and hide it in her facial expression.

For a second, I was angry with her. "Okay P Sawyer, I get it if you don't like him. But you might like to tell your face to hide it a little, for the sake of your best friend."

Peyton looked a little shocked in her eyes, but the grin didn't drop from her lips. If anything, it seemed to get wider. "I don't like your boyfriend, Brooke but that is totally not why I'm smiling right now."

I noticed then that her eyes had travelled beyond my gaze and I swivelled my body to see what she was looking at. At first I had no clue what she was getting at, and as if she saw it in my face, she pointed a long finger further in the direction I was looking. I froze.

It was the Halstead boy. And he was walking towards us, with some speed. Before I had time to move, he was in on the conversation.

"What's going on guys?" His opening line wasn't direct, and I couldn't work out if he was talking to me or not. I swore he hadn't looked at me yet, maybe he didn't recognize me.

"You," I spoke up, knowing it was a pathetic line to lead with but at this point I felt lucky to get one word out. I hadn't expected this to be Jay's scene at all, but here he was red cup in hand and other hand in the pocket of his shorts.

His face showed an element of surprise when he heard me talk. "Brooke," his eyes twinkled in the dusk light as he said my name, and it sent the same shiver down me as it had the last time. "I didn't know you came to college parties?"

My mouth opened and closed a few times, and I probably resembled a fish. I wasn't sure if he was happy to see me or not. His answers weren't giving anything away. One thing I did know though, he hadn't expected to see me. So who was his greeting aimed at?

"Hey, baby bro." One of Peyton's new friends stepped forward towards Jay. _There was my answer, I knew that boy looked familiar. He was an older Halstead._

Jay grimaced, probably at the thought of being called 'baby bro'. "Hey guys," he stepped away from me to greet his brother and his friends.

Peyton cleared her throat. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your _friend_?" She took a drink from her cup when she was finished talking, in a bid to stop herself from giggling.

"This is Jay," I said. "Jay Halstead." Of course she knew fine well who he was, she just wanted to embarrass me. And it was working. I was lucky it was getting darker still, it would give the others less of a chance of seeing my cheeks blush. "We uh we met earlier today."

"Lab partners," Jay confirmed, taking a sip from his drink too. Well, more like a gulp and it seemed as though the cup was empty.

Peyton's eyes popped and I knew what she was getting at. Okay, maybe I had downplayed the attractiveness of this guy. He had looked okay in class but tonight it seemed he'd made an effort. And it was just for a college party, so who knows what he looked like when he made a _real_ effort.

She could probably see right through me being embarrassed, especially in front of all the other college guys as well.

"I'm going to go mingle," she said and she moved closer towards the other older boys. "And you guys can come too."

I fought to protest, but no words came out.

Jay looked a little confused. "What was that about?" I was scared he was serious but then he started to laugh.

"I honestly have no idea," I giggled, and I downed the rest of my drink so now we had an excuse to move. I notioned towards his cup, which was also empty. "Beer?" I wasn't sure what had gotten into me, because I wasn't a big drinker usually. Perhaps it was the idea of being at a college party, I wanted to look normal and I wanted to fit in. I wanted to kind of make an impression on Jay before he had the chance to hear all the assumptions about me. The impressions I _didn't_ like to talk about.

"Sure," the word fell quickly from his mouth and I figured I had to follow him because he clearly knew his way around the place better than me.

When we reached the make-shift bar area, he was quick to pour me another beer. And he also seemed to find me a shot. I groaned at first, I knew I wasn't good at shots but I was in the moment tonight. One shot wasn't going to hurt me. Jay clashed his shot glass against my own and I let the liquid run down and burn my throat. It wasn't as bad as I had expected, but the thought of another one made me retch. I vowed to stick to my beer.

There were a lot of people around the bar area, it was inside and clearly some of these people had had enough of the bonfire. The two of us fought back through the crowd to get back outside, and I almost lost him a couple of times. Although I barely knew him, I wasn't with Peyton and I would rather be with him than alone here.

All of a sudden I felt a hand interlink with my own, and I prayed he didn't feel me tense up as I felt his fingers slide between mine. It gave me comfort in the moment, I didn't want to get lost but I had to fight away the other thoughts the gesture was making me feel. I made myself ignore how his warm soft skin complimented my own, in absolute contrast to the rough and sweaty palms of Brad. I gritted my teeth and fought away thoughts from my head as I sensed his thumb tracing along the bottom of my palm as he guided me through the crowd.

Jay and I soon reached outside again, but it seemed almost impossible to try and find Peyton and the others. Since we had been grabbing another drink, the crowds seemed to have doubled. I scanned the outer area quickly but it wasn't very illuminate and there were so many bodies, it was almost an impossible task. It seemed Jay felt the same, and we walked a little further out until we came to the bonfire. There were logs around the outside, and people were sitting on them. He found a free one and motioned for me to sit. He sat himself on the floor beside me.

"I'll give my brother a call. He's probably still with your friend."

I nodded, knowing I should be concerned and knowing I should find Peyton. At the same time, I probably should have felt worried without her but I didn't. If anything, I felt safe. And this was extremely weird to me, considering I'd only really had one proper conversation with the boy I was with. I wasn't aware I was deep in thought until I felt Jay's grip on the bare skin of my knee. The movement made me grip either side of my drink tighter.

"If he doesn't answer, I'll text. They'll be here somewhere." There was concern in his tone, and I guess it had only come from the expression on my face. "In the meantime, did you have any more thought on who we're going to write about?"

His sudden change of topic made me laugh. "Please," another sip of my drink. "I am not going to discuss class work when I'm supposed to be at a party."

He laughed then, and the space beside me on the log seemed to free up. He noticed before me and I watched as he got up from the ground and accompanied the place next to me. It was dark now, and I could feel the warmth of his skin against my skin as he made himself comfortable. "I guess that means," he took a swig of his beer and then exhaled, I think alcohol made him even more talkative. "You'll have to talk about yourself. Tell me about yourself, Brooke Davis." _There was something about the way he used both my names, and that something hadn't made me feel anything when it had come from anybody else's lips._

"Ah, my favorite subject," I smiled, knowing that when we left this conversation we would both indeed know more about each other. And it was always good to know who you were about to be working with for the rest of the semester, right?

 **Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

I couldn't tell how long I'd been talking to Jay but I was sure running out of things to say. I'd thought I could talk about myself forever but apparently not in the presence of the new guy. The way he kept looking at me, stealing glances he didn't think I noticed, and looking like he was _actually_ listening to me. I thought he'd wanted me to talk just to pass the time until we found everybody, but he seemed genuinely interested in what I was saying. And I wasn't used to people like that.

"Hey, look who's back." Jay stood up from the log he was occupying and waved a hand above his head, he seemed to be getting the attention of somebody. I stood up too, but struggled to see over the sea of people. It looked like the amount of party guests had grown largely since we'd started our conversation. Eventually Peyton came into view, and I waved her over in my direction.

When she got to us, it was obvious she was trashed. And I thought _I_ was drunk, Peyton was on another level. She was swaying in all directions and it looked like she couldn't even stand up properly. All of the guys had ditched her, except for the guy who I recognized as Jay's older brother. He followed close behind, and I was glad that at least somebody had stuck with her.

"B Davis!" Even above the noise of the party, Peyton's shout could have deafened me. She stumbled towards me and collapsed into my arms causing my drink to fly from my grip. I grabbed onto her and joined in with her laughter, it was funny to see Peyton when she was drunk. I'd never say this in front of her but she wasn't her usual whiny self, she seemed to let lose when she had alcohol. And I liked it, she was fun. As I hugged her she clocked Jay standing just behind me, and she pointed at him with her finger. "Hey I know you! You're Brooke's lab partner!"

Ok so apparently she didn't remember having a conversation with him earlier, and I rolled my eyes at him. Jay just seemed to find the situation funny but saw that I was struggling to keep Peyton on her feet.

"Do you want me to drive her home? I've only had one beer." Jay took some of Peyton's weight from me and I was relieved.

I wanted to take him up on the offer, but I didn't want to go home myself. Plus, I still hadn't found Brad and we were supposed to leave together. "You don't mind? I have to go and find my boyfriend anyway," I pointed in the direction of the majority of the crowd, realizing I'd have to fight my way through tons of people to find him.

"You're not leaving too?" Jay seemed surprised that I wanted to stay, so clearly whatever I'd told him in the past half an hour hadn't resonated in his stupid head. I was pretty sure I'd made it clear that I _loved_ parties and I wasn't going to be leaving any time soon. Even if it meant I'd spend the next hour trying to locate my boyfriend.

"I'm going to find Brad. Take my cell number and text me when you get her home." I didn't get bad vibes from Jay, but he was still the new guy and I was trusting him with my best friend. With that, he turned and walked towards the parking lot with Peyton in between him and his brother.

Now I had to find Brad. Most of the people here were college students and I didn't know the majority of them. It made it harder to recognize those that I did know. Before I tried to find him though I needed to replace the drink Peyton had knocked from my grip. I squeezed myself through the crowds of people, most of them were drunker than me by now and it was a struggle trying to heave their bodies out of my way. Eventually though I managed to get through and made myself a drink. But I didn't know where to start when it came to finding Brad.

It was getting dark as well which just added to my problems. Brad was bound to be outside somewhere either with the basketball guys or the guys he knew from the college. I started by the bonfire, but I had no luck there. There was a large group of guys at the back of the field so I walked over, my sneaks sinking further into the mud as I went deeper into the field. Then I clocked eyes on Brad.

He was indeed with the college guys and I didn't recognize any of them. I saw him before he saw me and he looked deep in conversation with boys I had never seen before. It always surprised me that Brad knew so many people and yet never introduced me to any of them. I walked over to the side where he was, tapping his shoulder and causing him to turn around.

"Babe," Brad slurred as he turned his body and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. His breath was hot and heavy and reeked of beer. I thought I'd got to the party way before him but he'd clearly made up for it with his alcohol intake. "Where have you been?" He whispered in my ear.

"I've been here," I put it to him bluntly because I needed to be blunt with him when he was wasted. Nothing seemed to register in his brain, and I knew I'd have to probably repeat myself several times tonight.

He didn't even bother to introduce anybody to me but continued to exhale into my ear. "We should get outta here," His grip around my body tightened and he began to pull me through the crowds. I followed him closely, until we reached the front of the house. Suddenly he turned back towards the door and I saw a weird grin spread across his face. "Actually, maybe we stay here a while." He tugged me back into the building, it was much quieter inside. I didn't know where he was trying to get me to go but his strength when he was drunk seemed to double.

Brad led me up the stairway and he seemed so eager to reach his destination that he was practically pushing people out of the way. When we got to the upper hallway he pushed open one of the doors with his shoulder and pulled me into the room after him. The room was a bedroom and I watched as Brad's eyes alternated between me and the bed.

I knew his intentions, and I knew the one thing he wanted: sex. It was the sole thing Brad wanted when he was intoxicated. Brad let go of my arm and I sank onto the bed. As soon as I felt contact with the mattress, he pushed his lips over my own. One of the things I liked the best about Brad was he was a great kisser, alas not when he was drunk. His lips were wet and all over the place and his tongue was sloppy. I grimaced as he shoved it down my throat.

As soon as I was laying on the bed, Brad made a move on my skirt. I'd chosen a short one anyway to impress him, so there wasn't too much left to reveal underneath. One of his hands reached underneath to tug at my panties, but he was clumsy and his fingers were hurting me. Still I continued to try and enjoy myself, grabbing the back of his head and pulling it closer towards me. I wasn't in a rush to work on his clothes, because we'd been in this situation before. And I knew how it ended.

I knew we'd reach a certain point and I wouldn't let him go further. I didn't know what it was but it scared me. Only I knew that I was nothing like the reputation I was given at school. Nobody knew, except Peyton.

As much as people didn't think it, I was a virgin. And I'd envisioned fixing that with Brad. Except each time it came to _it,_ I didn't want to. And the fact that I didn't want to never registered in Brad's brain. That was why each time he tried I'd,

"Stop, no." I broke our lips apart in order to speak. It was at that point when I tried to push him off me, but his strength was always too much. I had to resort to shoving his entire body off me, which is what I did. I ignored his protesting, I ignored his name calling and I ran away from him. He was usually understanding but he could be an ass when he was wasted and sometimes I had to convince myself to stay with him.

This time, I just wanted to get away from the party. But Peyton had left and I had no way of getting home. But Brad was here and I didn't want to be near him, he'd try and get me back in that bedroom if he saw me. And I probably wouldn't escape a second time. I found my way to the front door and walked off down the driveway. The street where the party was looked so different in the dark and I was pretty sure I was gonna get lost. But anything was better than being here, I would find my way home somehow.

"Don't you know a young woman shouldn't walk home alone at night?" A truck pulled up beside me and I couldn't figure out who it was at first. The vehicle rolled to a slow stop beside the sidewalk and I looked into the window. It was Jay.

"I'll live," I waved at him but hoped it would be a way of dismissing him. Perhaps a walk home would be the thing I needed, I could clear my head about the Brad situation and sober up a bit too.

"Get in," Jay spoke in little more than a whisper but it still sounded authoritative. Like he felt like he had the right to tell me what to do. When I continued to walk, he rolled his truck along beside me. "Brooke, get in the car."

There was something about the way he said my name that made me intrigued. There was a high chance that it was the alcohol talking, but part of me wanted to get in the car. It would be a quick escape away from this house and away from Brad and hopefully a free ride home. But the stubborn part of me just wanted to walk; this guy thought he could save me and I didn't need saving.

My feet shuffled slowly to the side of the truck, and I opened the door sliding into the passenger seat. I could see him properly now and he was smiling at me. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you went home. Did you take Peyton?" in the midst of what had happened with Brad, I'd totally forgotten about Peyton. _Bad friend alert_. .

"Relax, she's fine. And I just wanted to check you were okay. See if you found your _boyfriend_." He scoffed as he said the word, and pulled the car forward.

"Well, I did. And you don't need to check up on me. You don't have to be _that_ guy." I stared straight in front of me as he continued to drive.

"Ouch. You wanna walk?" He laughed afterwards but brought the car to a slow so for a second I thought he was being serious. I was fully prepared to get out of the car and walk, his sassiness was just adding to my bad mood. Before I opened the door, I felt his hand on my thigh. "Hey, I was kidding. Are you okay?" Clearly he wasn't oblivious to my temper and the fact that he'd even shown concern mattered to me. I fought not to cry in front of him, _that_ would be embarrassing.

"I'm…fine. Can you just take me home?" I chewed on my lip after I spoke, it was my attempt not to burst into tears right then and there. I noticed also that he wasn't in a hurry to release my leg from his grip so I looked down at it until he moved. It wasn't that it didn't bring me comfort, it was more the fact it reminded me of the situation I'd been in ten minutes ago.

"Sure, Brooke." He nodded his head and focused again on his driving. He didn't try and make conversation with me and the only thing from my mouth were directions to my house. It was quiet for the rest of the journey, but at the same time it wasn't awkward. When he reached my house, he rolled the truck to a slow stop. "Nice place," he smiled as he took in the surroundings of my house.

I took the compliment and opened the door of the truck. "Thank you for the ride," It was like I could feel his eyes watching me as I walked up my driveway but I was kind of glad that somebody cared enough to see I got home safely. Before I had a chance to open the door, I heard him calling me.

"Hey Brooke, that project… Are you free to work on it this weekend?"

"I have work in the morning, but you have my number so call me? I guess we gotta work on it some time." My answer seemed to satisfy him and he drove away.

* * *

I must have fallen asleep straight away when I got in but now my head was thumping. The last place I wanted to go was work but I knew I started in an hour so I had to get ready. That didn't stop the fact it felt like there was an elephant standing on my brain, and everything was gonna prove to be a struggle. The amount of coffee and breakfast I'd have to serve at the café would probably knock me sick. But I had to go. I threw the covers from my body and got ready.

I didn't have a chance to check my cell while I was getting ready so the first time I looked at it properly was on my way to work. I didn't feel like driving this morning so I left early to walk. It was cold and the air hit me like a slap to the face, but I hoped it was gonna make me feel better. As I turned around the corner of the café, I eventually checked my cell. As I suspected I had several missed calls and texts from Brad, a couple of "what happened last night"s from Peyton and a message from a number I didn't have saved. I frowned at the screen as I looked at the message.

 _Hey Brooke it's Jay. Text me after work and we can plan this project. I hope you're okay after whatever last night._

It was a text with such simplicity but I hadn't expected to get it. I had temporarily forgotten that Jay the new guy was the one who'd made sure I got home last night. I smiled at the message but didn't reply, I shoved my phone in my purse and walked the rest of the way to work.

The smell of pancakes and French toast did nothing to help the way I was feeling. There was an hour of my shift when I thought I was gonna throw up on the customers, this headache was no joke. The sooner I had finished, the better. Thankfully for me, I managed to cut out early and I practically threw down my coverall and escaped from the café. By the time I'd walked home I was feeling much better. I was looking forward to the rest of my free afternoon before I remembered I had to call back Jay. Not that I felt like working on the project this weekend, but Jay deserved a reply. I hoped he had the same work ethic as me, we could totally work on the project in school time.

When I called his number, he picked up on the fifth ring. For a minute, I didn't think he was going to answer and I was close to hanging up myself. The minute the ringing stopped, I heard heavy breathing before he spoke.

"Brooke? Hey," He definitely sounded out of breath.

"Hi. I'm done with work."

"Oh you are? Well I'm just at the gym right now. I could finish up here and meet you somewhere? Or I could swing by your place-"

"I'll meet you at Frank's? Half an hour?" The café was between my house and school so I figured it would be half way between our houses.

"Yeah, see you then." He hung up the phone quickly.

I was meeting Jay at the café to talk about our project but I somehow still found myself stressing about what to wear. Whether I was subconsciously trying to impress him or not, I wanted to look nice. I chose a tank and jeans, then got in my car and headed towards the café. When I got there, I didn't see Jay's car so I went inside to wait. I got a table, a secluded booth at the back of Frank's and ordered a milkshake. I wasn't sitting for even five minutes when he walked through the door.

Okay so he _worked out_. Jay looked like he'd come straight from the gym, his hair still a little wet and his muscles protruding through the tee he was wearing. It shocked me that I hadn't noticed before but then again maybe I just hadn't looked at him in that way. Which I probably shouldn't be doing now but I couldn't help it. He resembled a total gym buff and when he reached the table I could smell his scent. It was like a mix between cologne and shower gel.

"Hey," He greeted me before calling over somebody to grab him a drink. "Could I get a soda? Thanks." He slotted himself into the opposite side of the booth and rested his head in his hands. "How were you feeling this morning?"

"Like shit," I commented, just telling what was true. I had felt like _shit_. Instead of feeling sorry for me, he laughed.

"So," Jay relaxed his position and stretched back against the chair. "Did you give this project any thought?"

"I have a few ideas," I fidgeted with a napkin on the table, aware that the ideas I'd come up with would probably cause the same reaction as they had that first day in class. He'd either disagree with me or not have any idea who I was talking about.

"Me too," He paused as the server brought across his drink and he sat for a second slurping through the straw. "But," he folded his arms across one another and rested them on the table top. I couldn't stop myself from staring at his muscles, he'd kept them from my view the previous times we'd met. I somehow felt bad for looking but still couldn't help it. It was like he was showing them off in front of me. "It's Saturday, Brooke. I don't want to talk about a project today. How about we go to the movies or something? It might give us some _inspiration_." When he'd finished his offering, he raised his eyebrows in anticipation. Waiting for an answer.

"Sure," I drank the rest of my milkshake and waited for him to finish his soda. He left the café first and we both got in his truck, I would come back and get my car later. In a way a day with Jay would take my mind away from my Brad situation and everything else I didn't want to deal with. It would be a good distraction. Plus, Jay had gotten to know me through my detailed account at the party. It was my turn to do the same, the new guys always intrigued me and this time it wasn't any different: he'd started off so timid in the classroom and slowly he was becoming a friend. I had every intention of finding out about him too, discovering who my lab partner was and what I was getting myself into.

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	4. Chapter 4

"So what do you feel like watching?" Jay turned towards me as we stood at the concession booth. His eyes watched me as I scanned the list of movies that were showing today.

If I was totally honest, there wasn't a lot on there that I wanted to see. The movies had been Jay's idea of taking my mind off things though, so I didn't want to seem uninterested. There had to be something on the list that I could sit through, my eyes travelled down the board to pick something. I pointed to a random one half way down.

"That sounds okay," I replied. "This one?"

"Sure," He stepped forward towards the desk, requesting two tickets. I quickly joined him and took out my purse but he put a hand out to stop me. "I got this." Jay handed over bills to the woman at the other side of the window and she gave him tickets in return. He turned around back to me, smiling. "Popcorn?"

"Always," he led the way over to the popcorn stands and I followed close behind him. Again he produced more dollar bills from his pocket to pay. I felt kinda bad, this wasn't a date or anything so he shouldn't have been paying. I tried to protest, tried to give him some of my own money but he wasn't having it. Instead, he paid for the confectionary and we walked towards the screens.

Jay was quiet as we sat down and waited for the movie to start. There was perhaps something on his mind, but I thought now wasn't the right time to ask about it. Plus, maybe I didn't have the right to ask what was bothering him anyway, we really didn't know each other that well yet. Well, he knew a _lot_ about me after the other night but I was still to be let into the life of Jay Halstead. There wasn't a lot for us to talk about in the darkness so we sat watching the movie trailers before the actual picture started.

Turns out, I'd picked a horror movie and I was the _worst_ at horror movies. I was glad Jay was holding the popcorn, the amount of times I felt like I jumped from my skin. Though the theater was dark, I swore he was just laughing at my reactions, each time something jumped out I would shriek. There was one point when I accidentally reached out to him for comfort, grabbing his wrist in my hand to prevent myself from freaking out.

I heard him sniggering quietly. "Relax," he leaned his body close into me so I could hear him, and we wouldn't be disturbing the other viewers. "It's just a movie." His breath felt hot and sticky in my ear and it sent shivers down me. It wasn't until he spoke that I noticed my fingers were still wrapped around his wrist in a fairly tight grip. Obviously he hadn't minded that I could be on my way to stopping his blood circulation but I pulled back my hand as soon as I realized.

When the movie was finished, we followed the crowd out of the movie screen and headed back to his truck.

"Oh, another thing about me," I said as we reached where he'd parked. "I don't like horror movies." He'd probably gathered that for himself considering how I reacted to the events in that movie.

"Noted," he laughed as he got into the driver's side. Though I noticed he didn't start the engine, he sat for a second and stared out of the front window. Then he turned to face me, not laughing anymore. "Last night, did something go down? You seemed, I don't know, you seemed tense when I saw you. Was everything okay?"

I appreciated his concern for me, but I didn't want to get into the Brad thing then and there. I tried hard not to let it show on my face that something had went down last night. Something that happened often, and I was sick of it. But the very fact that he'd brought it up, made me think about it again. The way Brad had pushed me towards that bed, smothering me with his drunken mouth. The way I'd ran out on him, escaping from the house as fast as I could.

Jay noticed my silence. "Brooke?" I couldn't bring myself to look at him because if I saw the concern in his face, I'd cry. "You don't have to tell me, it's okay. You are alright though, right?"

I hadn't even filled Peyton in on what happened last night so why did I find myself wanting to tell him? He had such a look of sympathy on his face, it looked like he actually _cared_. Perhaps it was because I didn't have many people that cared in my life but I felt like telling him about it all.

I nodded my head at first and still didn't look at him, but I saw his hand travel towards my own so I know he didn't believe me. He took my hand in his grip, and we sat in the quiet of the car for a few minutes. I knew this wasn't appropriate, holding another guy's hand when I had a boyfriend. I stared at our hand embrace before I eventually looked at him. The look in his eye made me shiver slightly, it looked far too intimate for what Jay and I were. Still, I fought to ignore it, maybe I was reading too far into his expression.

"Brad," I said eventually, not even liking the way I'd said his name. He was the furthest thing from my mind today, and I didn't know how I was going to talk about last night. It was a regular thing when he was drunk, but I still didn't like to talk about it. We got on so well when he was sober and he was like a different person. But then I realized I was standing up for him when his behavior was wrong: he'd tried to take advantage of me when he was intoxicated. And I had to realize that wasn't okay. "It's Brad."

Jay looked confused for a second before realizing Brad was my boyfriend, I don't think I'd used his name in front of him. Being the new kid, he probably wasn't familiar with Brad's name either or the way he was known around school: star athlete, on watch for a professional scholarship. The second he understood who I was talking about, his brow furrowed and the concerned look was back.

"What do you mean?" As he thought further into it, his eyes widened. "Brooke, did he-"

I shook my head again, immediately recognizing what conclusion he'd jumped to. My reaction seemed to give him a reassurance and he breathed out heavily. I was beginning to wonder why he was actually so concerned for me. Sure, the fact we were lab partners meant we were obviously bound to get to know each other, but it felt like Jay was more worried about me than any other 'lab partner'.

"No, he didn't. Why did you ask?"

He didn't offer any words at first, just shrugged. "The way you were walking down that road, I didn't want to say anything last night to further upset you but you looked pissed. And upset. I guess I was just worried about you."

"You don't need to worry about me," I shifted position in the car but it didn't cause Jay to pull his hand away. "I'm fine."

Jay raised his eyebrows. "Okay okay, you're _fine_." Those words left his mouth but he didn't sound too convinced. His head fell to an angle, "Did you want me to drop you at home?"

I nodded at first but then stopped, remembering my car. "I have to pick my car up from the café. Could you drop me there?"

"Sure." He gently backed his hand away from me and started the engine with both hands now on the wheel. It didn't take us long to get back to the café and he pulled into an empty space next to my car. "So I'll see you in lab tomorrow?"

"You will." I smiled towards him and moved to get out of the car. I watched as he pulled away from where I was, waved from the window and then sped off into the direction he'd came from. I got into my own car and drove home. I liked it when I was alone in the car, but sometimes it caused my thoughts to go into overdrive.

There was little I could do to deny that I liked him. Which was a good thing, it was always a bonus to get along with your lab partners. But it was the _extent_ to which I liked him that confused me and bothered me. It might have even made me a little bit scared. It was even a shock to me that I'd been so open with him already, he knew more about me than I'd ever let on before.

The thoughts soon dropped from my mind though when I pulled up to my driveway and saw Brad's car already there. I couldn't help but groan because I knew what was coming. He would be here right now in a bid to either apologize or claim he couldn't remember what went down last night. Whatever it was, I was _not_ in the mood to see him or talk to him. But I knew he wasn't going to leave easily. I pulled up next to his car and went inside.

He was standing in my kitchen, helping himself to my food again. He turned around when he heard me walk through the door. I couldn't tell what look was on his face, whether he was feeling sorry for himself or if he knew what he'd done. His face soon broke into a sly smile and he walked over to me.

"Babe, where have you been? I was so close to calling Peyton to see where you were." He snaked his arm around my shoulders and it managed to send shudders down me as I remembered the last time I'd been in his embrace. "Seriously, where did you go?"

I decided to be blunt and honest to see how he would react. Usually if I didn't want to see him, I was with Peyton or hauled up somewhere and not telling him. Never had I been on a movie trip with somebody else.

"I went to the movies," I struggled free of his arm, ducking underneath him and walking further into the room. I felt the urge to stay as far away from his grip as possible.

"With who?" I couldn't tell if he was pissed because he was still stuffing the contents of my refrigerator into his mouth.

"A friend." I turned my back away from him, heading in the direction of the fridge myself. The popcorn I'd shared with Jay at the movies was the only thing I'd eaten all day. Now all I wanted to do was make up for that so I searched in there for something I really craved.

"Damn, I thought the movies was _our_ thing," Okay now I _knew_ he didn't remember what happened last night and if he did, this made him an even bigger asshole. "At least you're home now," I watched as he walked further towards me. When he outstretched his arms I backed against the wall.

"Brad." My voice had such a stern expression to it that it shocked me. "Are we even going to talk about what happened last night?"

He retreated with my words but they didn't seem to register in his mind. Clearly he'd been so wasted he was unaware of what occurred. I didn't want to fill him in either, that meant I had to relive it.

"Look Brooke," Brad outstretched his arms either side of me, essentially trapping me between the wall and him. "I get it, you wanna wait. Whatever."

If this was his attempt at an apology, it was the most pathetic one I'd ever heard. Something clicked inside me then, a realization I'd never had before. What gave him the right to treat me this way? Brad was a big part of the reason for the reputation I'd been given at school: the previous girls he'd dated had all slept with him, giving him what he wanted. I wasn't about to give it to that though, no guy was going to do that to me.

"So that's it? That's your apology?" I didn't try to move yet, anxious of what Brad would attempt if I tried to escape from his hold. He always managed to come over when my house was empty, which was most of the time so I had nobody for back-up if his temper got the better of him.

"Apology? I'm not going to apologize for trying to have sex with my _girlfriend_."

I struggled hard then to remember what made me fall for Brad in the first place. Perhaps it was because he was the popular one and he'd gone after _me._ I supposed I'd liked it at first, being paraded around on the arm of the most wanted kid in school. Now though, as I stared into his cold hard eyes I failed to come up with a reason why I wanted to stay with him. He was being a jerk. Before I had the opportunity to say anything, I heard the front door.

"Brooke?" I'd half expected it to be Peyton, I was used to her turning up at my house out of the blue. She usually came at the weekends, too. But it certainly wasn't Peyton's voice that carried through the hallway. I struggled to see past Brad's giant body to see who it was but the voice felt familiar. "Brooke?" It repeated. "You left this in my c-"

It was only then I realized it was Jay, and I cringed as he walked through into the kitchen, his eyes going wide and his words cutting off when he saw us. Saw Brad practically pinning me to the wall.

If Brad was angry before, he was even more so now. I'd never seen him turn around so fast, noticing the voice was from a guy and that I'd left something in his car.

"What the hell?" I was eventually released from where I was and I watched as Brad stepped forward, obviously in a bid to look a threat towards Jay. "Who the fuck are you?"

Jay stepped back a little, clearly intimated by Brad's presence and I didn't blame him. "Jay," He stuck out one of his hands but Brad totally ignored it. He was trying to be polite as possible, but I knew it wasn't going to work. Brad was already in the worst mood. Though he'd backed away, Jay still looked concerned. I knew what he had saw. "What's going on man? Who do you think you are, doing that to a girl?"

Brad scoffed. "I think you'll find I should be asking you who the hell you think _you_ are, man." He looked down at Jay's hand, noticing my jacket and clicked his teeth. "Oh so _this_ is who you were with today. Care to tell me who you are?"

"I just told you, name's Jay. We're lab partners," Jay stole a quick glance at me but I think he was too apprehensive to look too long while we were in the presence of Brad.

I breathed in deep as I watched Brad walk towards Jay, and I knew he was feeling threatened. If anybody stood up to Brad, he had something to say to them. And I definitely had a hunch that he'd feel furious that I'd been with Jay today.

"Oh lab partners is it? So you guys have to work with each other in class?"

"Brad-" I knew my input would do little to calm the conversation, they were nearly squaring up to each other. "Brad, stop."

"No Brooke, I'm talking." He stepped even further towards Jay. "So lab partners means you have to see each other outside of school, yeah?"

"Sure, we've got to spend _lots_ of time together, right Brooke?" Jay responded, looking towards me at the end of his speech. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. I knew he was getting cocky and it was like a battle for power in my kitchen.

Brad sniggered in Jay's direction, a wicked laugh that made him sound villainous. Then he suddenly stopped. "Not if I have anything to do with it." I had every intention of running towards them and breaking them apart but I watched as Brad's first came into contact with Jay's face before I had the chance. I heard it more than I saw it, the sickening popping sound as Jay took a blow to the nose. I ran over to them both, finding myself more concerned for Jay than I was for Brad.

"Get out!" I shrieked. "Just get out!"

"You heard her, get out." Brad repeated, and I could still hear his laughter under his breath.

"I was talking to _you._ " I turned to face him, fully aware I was sneering at him. He had totally pissed me off now. "Get. Out."

"Um, what?" His look was now pure disgust, clearly not getting that I was siding with Jay. He waited for me to say something else but I didn't, just stood waiting for him to leave. He finally scoffed at us, grabbed his jacket from the counter and stormed out of the front door. I heard him muttering cuss words as he slammed the door shut.

When he was gone I focussed my attention back to Jay. He was standing with his head tilted back, blood running at a thick pace through his fingers. I ran towards the faucet, wetting a towel and hurrying back over to him. He brought his head back to normal level when he felt me covering his face with the towel. Our eyes locked as he took over, taking the towel from my hands.

"You shouldn't… you didn't have to do that,"

"Do what? I didn't do anything but tease him Brooke. He was being a jackass."

"I meant the way you stood up for me. I'm so sorry he did that but-"

"You shouldn't have to stand up for him. He's not good for you."

I knew he was right, but was he in a position to call out my relationship? I didn't realize we'd reached that level with each other. Still, I remembered what he'd walked in on, and knew he was bound to have said something.

"I know what I saw." His voice was muffled from the towel.

"Jay, it's not what it looked like." _Yes it was, it was_ _exactly_ _what it looked like._

He didn't look convinced. "Sure," He winced in pain. I was surprised that it wasn't broken, I knew the strength of Brad. I knew what he was capable of.

I thought about taking his mind off the situation with his nose, although I didn't want to continue talking about Brad. "How did you find my house?"

"Huh?" He was clearly confused by the sudden change of subject.

I recalled I'd never told him my address, I didn't think. "How did you figure out where I lived? You know, to bring back my jacket."

"Oh," the bleeding seemed to have slowed, so Jay lowered the towel from his face. "I called Peyton."

"You did?" _Shoot, Peyton_. I hadn't responded to her messages regarding last night and she was going to _kill_ me.

"I had her number from last night, I made her give me it in case she needed anything," Okay, he was going up in my estimations by the minute. Not only had he ensured she'd got home safely, he was still concerned after.

"Okay well, thanks." I motioned towards the jacket, I wouldn't have missed it that much but it was nice of him to bring it back to me. I looked at him, wincing as I saw his face. "Are you okay?"

"Relax Brooke, it's just a split nose. At least it isn't _broken_ ," he laughed. He turned his attention to the cloth I'd given him, the cream towel now a bright shade of red. "Sorry for that," as if it was his fault. He moved over to the sink to clean his drying blood from his hands.

"That's old, don't worry about that." I took the towel from him and threw it into the trash. There wasn't any point in trying to get that back to its usual color. I stared towards the floor after I did so, my brain registering what had happened just before in my kitchen.

I couldn't believe Brad had _hit_ him. Actually I could, but still. And it was because I'd gone to the movies with him.

"That was my fault," I said quietly as it hit me, and I felt the tears start to brim along the bottom of my eyes. "I can't believe he-"

"Stop," Jay moved from where he was standing, moving closer and closer towards me. I felt his hand beneath my chin forcing my head up to look at him. "Don't say that, this is most definitely not your fault."

"But-"

"Shh," I froze as his hand slid from underneath my chin to rest on the side of my jaw. "Believe me, what happened just now is not on you." His touch was cold against my skin, given that he'd just washed his hands but it still brought me a little comfort.

We were now so close that I had to move before I did something I would regret. Or thought I would regret, I couldn't be sure. But I was emotional and he could see that. I slowly backed away from him and his hand dropped back to his side. We were still standing beside the counter though, looking intensely at each other.

"B Davis?" _Peyton._ This time, it _was_ Peyton. I heard her before I saw her, the door closing firmly behind her. "Where have you been all day? I tried calling y…. oh," She took in the scene as she opened the kitchen door. "Hello again, _Jay._ "

"Peyton," Jay smiled towards her and waved. "Feeling okay after last night?"

"I thought I was dying this morning but that feeling has slowly disappeared. But thanks for asking," She came further into the room, making herself at home and sitting at one of the stools at the island counter. "I heard you took me home too, so thanks for that."

"Sure," Jay nodded, thanking her with his body language. "I had to make sure Brooke's best friend got home okay. I'm just thankful that you weren't sick in my car.." Jay laughed, and Peyton did too. "I should get going anyway, leave you girls to do whatever you do on Sunday's," He walked towards the door. "Bye, Peyton."

"See you."

I followed him out of the door, along the hallway and towards the entrance to my house. He opened the door then turned back to me.

"Just so you know, even given _that_ situation, I had fun today." I knew he was referring to the movies, which had been the most enjoyable part of my day, too. He outstretched one of his arms, and I was unsure what he was doing before he ran his fingers down the length of my arm. Again, sending shivers down me. "So I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Brooke." He flashed a smile in my direction before turning and heading towards his truck. I leaned myself against the doorframe, waving to him as he drove away from sight. Once I'd caught the last of his vehicle I made my way back into the kitchen.

Peyton was staring in my direction. She was sitting with her elbows balanced on the table and her chin resting on her hands. She had the most ridiculous grin on her face and she raised her eyebrows at me.

"Okay, you have to tell me _everything._ "

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	5. Chapter 5

Peyton's reaction was _exactly_ what I had expected: she was pissed at Brad, excited to learn about my afternoon with Jay, and then pissed at Brad again. I didn't blame her this time, I knew she didn't like him but she was right on this occasion. Her reaction made me realize that Brad's behavior wasn't okay. I don't know why I was trying to stand up for him.

"Okay, enough of _that_ asshole, how was your movie date?"

I groaned. "It wasn't a date."

Peyton raised her eyebrows. "Okay, whatever. Keep telling yourself that," She still had a stupid smirk on her face. Then she moved to my side of the counter and hugged me. "I'm gonna head out, I'll see you in the morning."

It was her turn to carpool to school and sure enough, she was waiting for me at 8am the next day. I had woke up tired but there was no way I was going to miss an opportunity for lab with Jay. We needed to talk about our project.

"Good morning B Davis," Peyton grinned from the driver's side as I opened the door on my side. She saw I was already smiling, and I didn't want to know the assumptions she was making. Then, it seemed she remembered what I told her last night and her face dropped slightly. "How are you feeling, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," When I answered, she didn't look convinced even though my expression hadn't changed. "Honestly, I'm fine." I threw my backpack into the back of her car and turned up the car radio. I didn't know what the music was, but I was lucky it wasn't some of Peyton's whiny songs. She seemed satisfied when I turned up the volume to show her I was in a good mood. Whatever had happened yesterday, the bad stuff, wasn't on my mind right now.

We got to school in no time. When she'd parked up and we were walking to campus. I was anxious as to who I might run into. _Brad_ , mainly. I had no idea how what happened last night had left us. We'd argued before but never to that extent. And never when somebody else had been witness to it. Brad probably hated that I stood on Jay's side instead of his, I remembered my visions of him storming out of my house. I didn't regret staying on Jay's side but I found myself a little scared to see Brad.

He was there already when I arrived at the lockers, his was three up from mine and he was leaning against it. Peyton's grip tightened around my arm, and she stood between us as if to guard me. I loved her for it, but if Brad did anything there would be little she could do. I guess she did it for moral support, too.

I ignored him as I walked past him, my eyes diverting in front of me so we wouldn't make eye contact. I _really_ didn't want to talk to him, but I knew it would cause a scene if he spoke to me and I blanked him. My stomach turned as I got to my locker, I had flashbacks of the previous afternoon and suddenly I felt sick. I didn't want to see him, I couldn't be in the same room as him today. I focused on opening my locker to put my bag inside, but I heard footsteps and I knew he was coming towards me.

"Beat it, Brad. She doesn't want to talk to you," Peyton shielded me from his view and a harsh tone had overcome her. She could be quite intimidating when she wanted to be, and I was thankful that we had first period together so she was there. I don't know if I could have handled talking to Brad on my own.

"I just want to talk to her," His voice was rough, but he didn't sound sincere at all. Not that he ever did.

I prayed Peyton would stand her ground. "Didn't you hear me? She. Doesn't. Want. To. Talk. To. _You_." I could hear the anger building up in her voice and it made me want to smile. I knew I could always rely on Peyton to have my back, even against a 6 foot-something player like Brad. She hated him to begin with and she was letting it show even more as she addressed him, "Back _off_."

She didn't say anything else but I heard footsteps retreating away from us. When they'd become even fainter, I turned around and hugged her. I shut my locker and we went into the classroom.

"Thanks," we sat down at the desks, hers just meters away from mine. "I really couldn't talk to him back there."

"What are best friends for, if not to call out your whack ass boyfriends?" _Okay okay so she'd made her feelings towards Brad_ _quite_ _clear._ And now I totally got where she was coming from and if we weren't already, I needed to break up with him.

Lucky for me, I didn't have any classes with him so I could easily avoid him for the rest of the day. Or, I thought I could. By the end of third period, I needed to go back to my locker and pick up my books for the lab I had in the afternoon. Peyton was in a different class by this point and in another part of building so I had to go alone. Which was fine because I could pick up what I needed and meet with her for lunch.

"Brooke." His voice was cold again, and it wasn't one I wanted to hear.

I turned my face away from my locker, finding Brad standing at the other side of it. When I moved, his hand reached for the open door and slammed it closed, making me jump. There were other people in the hallway and I didn't want him to cause a scene. I couldn't be dealing with the embarrassment today.

Though I was facing him, I didn't say anything but I tried to make my feelings show in my face. I didn't know whether I felt more upset or pissed so my face was probably a mixture of both.

"Brooke," he repeated, my name spilling from his mouth like it didn't belong there. "I need to talk to you."

His actions and the sleazy look on his face just made me want to break up with him even more.

"No." I narrowed my eyes towards him, tightening my grip around my books to reassure myself. "We're done." I didn't really want to break up with him in the hallway of school, but I figured at least it would be done. I turned my body away from him but he grabbed my wrist when I did so.

"You're gonna regret this Brooke," His eyes were just slits now, getting thinner as he spoke. "You're gonna really regret it." He released his fingers, my skin was turning yellow at his touch, and strode away down the opposite way of the hallway. I was glad he hadn't caused a shouting match, but people were still staring at me. Probably because they weren't used to anybody standing up to Brad. But whatever, I tried to put them to the back of my mind and walked to meet Peyton for lunch.

There was no way I was going to let myself cry in school. Though Brad was an ass and now I let myself _believe_ that he was an ass I couldn't let him get to me while I was still in front of other people. I couldn't.

When I reached the canteen I found that I wasn't hungry though. I stared at Peyton as she nipped and picked at her meal, clearly she wasn't into eating much either. I found myself staring at the clock, waiting for my afternoon lab class. At least that way, I could see Jay.

I set eyes on him as soon as I got to the classroom, he'd got there before me. He was occupying the desk next to mine, the exact one he'd moved to when we'd spoken for the first time last lesson. Somehow, it felt much longer than a week that I'd known him: we'd been to the same party, to the movies and he'd taken a punch from my boyfriend. I felt like I knew him, even in such a short space of time. Even if I still really didn't know that much about him, I found myself automatically in a better mood when I saw he was already in the classroom waiting for me.

"Hey," Jay looked up from his textbook and waved his hand at me. I must have grimaced or something, because he frowned. "Hey, are you alright?"

I nodded before letting myself look at him properly. "Oh my God Jay, your face-" I felt my eyes studying the area around his nose, swollen and blue. The middle of his face was a mess, and it was because of an argument over _me._

"I wish I could say it's better than it looks," his hand went to his nose as he spoke about it and he laughed, but it still looked like he was in pain. "But your _boyfriend_ can throw a hell of a punch."

" _Ex-boyfriend_." I found myself edging closer to him, staring at the damage Brad had done to his face. Peyton and Jay were right, he was a _jerk_.

"Well, that's good." He said it under his breath but it was just loud enough for me to hear. Then he took his hand away and smiled at me, his face still managing to appear so attractive to me even given the state of his nose. "Did you give any thought to this project then? Who're we gonna write about?"

"Which ideas did you have?" I was curious to see if we had any in common, but I wasn't holding out much hope.

"Okay hear me out, Brooke." He turned his body towards me, his arms resting on my desk taking up most of the space. "John Hughes."

"Who?" What was it with him coming up with ideas of people I'd never even heard of?

"Oh come on! Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off." The look on my face caused his jaw to drop open. "Wait, you haven't _seen_ them?!"

I was a little apprehensive to shake my head, he seemed so passionate about this guy. I did it anyway and watched as he nervously laughed.

"Seriously, are you kidding me right now? Those movies are the _bomb_."

"I've never heard of him, of them."

"Then you _have_ to watch them Brooke, you have to. I have a collection of them. Do you want to come around to watch one? Tonight maybe?"

An invitation to his place had been the last thing I'd expected. "I can't tonight, I have a shift at the café." Okay, that wasn't strictly true I just had to pick up my cheque and talk to the manager.

He seemed saddened that I'd said I couldn't go. "What time do you get off?"

"I don't know," I realized I wasn't giving him anything. "I could see what time I get off, then come later?"

"Sure," Jay reached into his backpack and I was unsure what he was doing at first. He produced a paper pad, and scribbled his address. "If you do decide to come, this is where I live."

I took it from his grip. "You know, you could have just text me the address." I glanced at his writing and realized I knew the area; a couple of girls from school lived around there.

"True," His eyebrows raised as he realized we did indeed have each other's cell numbers.

We spent the rest of the lab chatting about random stuff, and he managed to take my mind far away from the subject of my ex-boyfriend. Even though we talked for the hour, it seemed to be about nothing in particular and before we knew it, class was over. I groaned slightly knowing I'd probably wasted our time together but I was also thankful that school was over for the day.

"Bye Brooke, maybe I'll see you tonight." Jay swung his school bag across his shoulder and waved at me as he walked out of the classroom. He was gone before I said goodbye myself, so I wandered to the car park where Peyton was already waiting.

"Well you look happier than this morning," Peyton smiled, knowing which class I'd just come from. "Wouldn't have anything to do with the lab partner or anything would it?

"Not at all," I slapped her arm and threw my bag into the trunk. I sucked in air. "I broke up with Brad. At least I think I broke up with Brad."

Peyton almost clapped her hands together, she wasn't subtle at _all_. Then she furrowed her brow slightly. "What do you mean, you _think_?"

"He told me I'd regret it," I said, climbing into the passenger side of her car.

"Oh _please_ , you're the best damn thing he's ever going to have had. This is amazing Brooke! Now you can get to know the new guy!"

"Didn't you hear me? I said I _just_ broke up with him. And what are you talking about? We're _lab partners_." I said it aloud, although I wasn't totally convinced myself. She glanced at me through the corners of her eyes. "Hey focus on the road, will you?" I watched as her eyes darted back to the road, and she eventually turned the corner to my street. "Thanks for the ride P. Sawyer, I'll pick you up tomorrow."

"Wait, you didn't want to hang out? I thought we could do something tonight?" Her tone was hopeful and I didn't want to let her down but at the same time, I needed time alone. We had the rest of the week to 'hang out'.

"I have a shift at the café," Okay, so I was stretching the truth a bit but she didn't need to know I was only going to pick up my pay. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"Sure thing, Brooke. Bye." She waved at me and drove away. I felt bad for lying to my best friend but I felt like I was allowed on this occasion. Whatever I was doing she was bound to find out about anyway.

As soon as I got inside, I raced to my bedroom and felt the need to get changed. The weather was different to this morning so I changed into a pair of jeans and a tank. I wanted to get my pay check as soon as possible so the café wouldn't be too busy and I wouldn't get asked to do a shift. I raced back downstairs and got into my car, headed to my workplace. To my relief, it wasn't too busy and I ran into the back to pick up my pay. The manager wasn't there though, so I was done quicker than I expected. When I made it back to the car, I found myself sitting for a few moment without starting the engine.

Earlier in class, I had every intention of _not_ going to Jay's house, but I'd taken the piece of paper to be polite. And obviously I'd just broken up with my boyfriend so going to another guy's house was the _worst_ idea in the world.

When I pulled away from the café, I hadn't intended to take a left instead of a right. Or at least I didn't plan on it. I also didn't plan on driving the direction that was written on that tiny piece of paper, it was like my head and my heart telling the driving wheel two completely different directions.

I checked my phone, unsure of why but I did it anyway. I half expected an angry message from Brad or a slightly pissed one from Peyton but they didn't exist. No new messages.

I should really have told Peyton where I was going, so she knew where I was. I should have left a note for the housekeeper- the only adult in the house whilst my parents were away- telling her I would be back tonight. I should have turned my Jeep around, head back to take a right instead of a left.

I should, I should, I _should_. Too bad I kissed _should_ goodbye.

Before I knew it, I was sitting in front of the address Jay had given me. I didn't know what I had expected, but the house stood on its own surrounded by trees. There were four cars on the driveway, one of them I recognized as his Jeep. So I knew I'd come to the right place.

The evening breeze hit me as I parked up and left my car. It made me shiver, but I struggled to decide whether it was the weather or my nerves. I was actually at his _house_. Where he lived. With his family. Warily, I made my way up the path to his door clocking my eyes on a buzzer. My fingers were inches away from pressing it when I heard a noise.

"I was wondering if you were going to show," His voice made me jump and I spun quickly to see Jay tracing my steps behind me. "I didn't mean to scare you," he laughed "I was just getting something from my car."

How had I not noticed him? "Jay," his name left my lips and it was the only thing I could manage for a second. I struggled to understand why I had nothing to say when we'd chatted for an hour already today. Perhaps it was because I was standing at the entrance of his house, with the guy I was working with who was half-clothed. Even though the air was chill, Jay was outside only in sweat pants and a pair of socks. It didn't look like he'd been expecting me at all.

"Should we, ya know, go inside?" He overtook where I was standing, reaching for the door handle and pushing it so it was open. He waited at the entrance for me to follow and I did, stepping over the doorframe behind him.

It was obvious they hadn't had the house for long and that made sense, giving Jay had just transferred. The house was huge, but there were so many white sheets covering most of the furniture while the house was being fixed up. It didn't take anything away from the grand structure of the place though, everything I could see looked classy and stylish.

"Jay, what were you doing out-" I stood in his Jay's shadow as a woman approached him from around the corner. She had an apron tied around her waist, her blond hair in a pony and a kitchen towel in her arms. "Oh, hi." Her voice was chirpy and she had a wide grin on her face. "I didn't realize you had company, Jay."

"Mom," I looked at him as he rolled his eyes. "This is Brooke, Brooke this is my mom Ashley."

Ashley moved closer to me, and I expected her to stick out one of her hands for me to shake. Instead, she wrapped her arms around me. "Oh Brooke it's so nice to meet you! Jay's told me a lot about you! Are you staying for dinner?" She broke her embrace from around me and swatted the air. "Of course you'll stay for dinner!"

Jay groaned. "Oh my God, Mom! Maybe she doesn't want to stay for dinner. We're gonna watch a movie," Before I had a chance to reply to Ashley, Jay's hand found my own and he was guiding me through the lower level of the house. As he gave me a mini tour, I thought about what his mom had said. _Jay's told me so much about you._ The good things, I hoped.

He came to a stop in front of what looked like a wall. He let go of my arm and pushed against it, and I found it wasn't a wall but a door. But you wouldn't have known it was a door if you'd never been here before. When I walked further in, I realized there was a stairs that led to a further below ground level. Jay went first because we were in darkness, but he soon reached back for my hand and guided me.

When we were at the bottom, I realized it was his bedroom. It was much more than a bedroom though, it was like a completely separate apartment with a bathroom and living space. I let my curiosity lead the way and I dropped his hand, wandering at a slow pace around the room. It was easier to see when he'd switched on the light. Apart from a kitchen (so he obviously had to leave at some point to eat) it was like his own home. Like most of the rest of the house, I noticed it still needed work doing but most of the furniture was there.

" _This_ is your room?" I wandered further around the corner, noticing his work space and his computer. Then, at the other side, his bed and his TV. I turned back to him, to find he had followed me and was within breathing space. "This is your room?"

Jay laughed. "So I totally had to fight my brother for it but yeah Brooke," He stood in front of me, motioning to the room like a proud Dad. "This is my room." He pulled at my arm again, over to where his TV stand was. I realized there wasn't a couch at this side of the room though, meaning we'd be watching a movie on his _bed._

I was still looking around the room when he disappeared for a second then came back with a T-shirt on. I hadn't minded the sight of him shirtless, but I guess him having clothes on was the best situation for both of us.

"Hey, did you want to actually stay for dinner? I'll tell my Mom if you wanna. By the way, sorry about her. She's a _hugger_."

I laughed. "Dinner would be great, but are you sure she won't mind? I don't want to-"

"Brooke, its fine. She always makes too much food anyway." I watched as he shouted up to his Mom then listened as he ran back down the stairs. He checked his cell. "So dinner is in an hour and a half," Jay walked over to his shelves of books and DVDs. "Which gives us plenty time for a movie first. Which one are you feeling Brooke Davis?"

I stiffened for a second, the only person that called me by both names was Peyton. It felt weird that it came from Jay but it didn't feel wrong. "Which one do you recommend?"

"Oh definitely _Ferris Bueller_. I can't believe you've never seen it before." He pointed towards his bed. "Make yourself comfortable."

I gulped, knowing the last time I'd been in bed with a guy- actually, I couldn't let myself think about that. Lucky for me, I wasn't going to have to have an experience like that again. Out of politeness, I pushed off my shoes and climbed onto his bed. It was weirdly comfortable and I was soon in a spot that I didn't want to move from.

As soon as the DVR was set up, Jay came to occupy the space next to me. I could feel the heat between us, and I noticed how close his body was to my own. There was something about the situation that made me feel so comfortable though and I think it had something to do with the fact he'd stood up for me against another guy. I felt safe in his presence. But I knew I had to focus on the movie, if we were going to write about the director.

I was actually surprised in a good way with the movie. Though I was distracted by Jay laughing like a goof the entire way through, it was clearly one of his favorites. I laughed too, but not as much as Jay: I think I laughed more at him laughing than I actually laughed at the movie.

"What did you think?" By the end of the movie we'd both made ourselves comfortable and were practically lying on his bed. Jay spoke as the end credits rolled up the screen, and he turned to me resting his head on his hand and elbow.

"It was actually really good," I couldn't believe I'd reacted so well to a 80s movie, usually I was more a fan of TV shows. As I spoke, I shifted my body to the side as well. He was close to my body and his face was in my view again. It looked even worse than this afternoon, the swelling hadn't even gone down. I wondered what story he'd run to his Mom. "Your nose-" Though I didn't tell it to, my hand outstretched and rested against his cheek.

"Brooke, please don't beat yourself up over it. I probably deserved it for the things I was saying to him, about his girlfriend-"

" _Ex-girlfriend._ " I correct him, my fingers still at the side of his nose.

"Yeah ex-girlfriend." At that point, he grinned. "Listen, the point is I don't care. I don't _care_ that he did this to my face." Jay let the grin drop slightly before reaching for my hand, the one that was on his face, and curling his fingers around my own. His voice turned to little more than a whisper. "That first day I saw you, I knew you were probably with somebody else. But I didn't care. The night of the party and the bonfire, I didn't care. And yesterday," his hand dropped to my face, his finger swirling around the skin on my cheek. I knew he wanted to laugh as he remembered being cocky towards Brad. "Yesterday, I _really_ didn't care."

I'd never been talked to, or looked at, with the degree of intensity that was currently burning in Jay's eyes. I didn't exactly get what he was trying to say, but I think I liked where the conversation was headed.

I found myself having to gasp for breath, he was looking at me so intensely. I thought back to the night of the party, how we'd spent hours together and he had listened when I was talking so much about myself. I thought back to the end of the night when he'd returned to the party, to check that I was gonna get home okay. I thought back to yesterday when we'd gone to the movies (okay maybe it looked like a date) and he'd paid for the tickets, snacks and let me almost stop his blood circulation because I didn't like what was happening on the screen.

"When I was with you," I chewed on my lip. "I didn't care either."

"Brooke-" Jay's eyes widened and I watched as his face began to inch closer to my own.

"DINNER!" The voice that shouted down the stairs caused Jay to retreat and I watched as he scrambled from the bed and I gradually followed him, wondering what I would have been in for if his Mom hadn't called us upstairs.

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	6. Chapter 6

There was no doubt in my mind that something would've happened if Ashley hadn't called us upstairs for dinner. I didn't know whether to be happy that it hadn't, my emotions were in overdrive and I'd literally _just_ broken up with Brad. The selfish part of me though wished Ashley hadn't interrupted us. Jay was intriguing, and I'd found myself lost in that moment with him.

Dinner with Jay's family was less awkward than I thought it would be, but it did prevent me from having another opportunity alone with him. His brother was also there at the dinner table, the older guy who I recognized from the party at the weekend, and his girlfriend. I'd never seen her before but she was pretty, and she sat opposite me when we ate. His mom insisted that I stayed for dessert and by the time it was over, I figured I should go. Though Jay and his family had been super sweet, I didn't want to outstay my welcome.

Jay walked me to the door, and I'm pretty sure he was stood there until I drove around the corner. While nothing had really happened between us, I found myself stuck up on him. I thought about him all night, and it wasn't hard for Peyton to tell the next morning considering I was probably still smiling.

When I arrived to carpool her, I couldn't exactly hide how I was feeling.

"Good morning B Davis, why the stupid grin?" She pulled the door shut behind her with a thud.

"Stupid grin? I have no idea what you're talking about." I tried to shake off her thoughts, but I knew just what she was referring to. I could feel the smile myself, spreading across my cheeks. I kinda thought about lying to her, but I knew she would find out soon enough, plus she was my best friend and probably the only person I wanted to know about anything that happened with Jay.

"You can deny whatever you like, but that grin is the widest I've ever seen it. Now, _spill_."

We were pulling up to school by the time she asked and I was glad, because I didn't want to be driving when I told her. I wanted to see her reaction.

"I may or may not have gone over to Jay's house-"

"You did what? Okay, I was pissed at you for not wanting to hang out but now it makes sense! Oh, this is great!" She paused to study my facial expression. "Wait, did something happen between you two?" Her eyebrows raised.

"What? No," I chewed on my inner lip, but of course it didn't work. Peyton could always tell when I was lying. "Okay, maybe there was, for a minute-" I watched as her jaw dropped a little, waiting for me to tell more. "Until his mom called us up for dinner."

"Oh, are you joking right now? So you almost kissed the new guy and you've met his mom already? Damn, Brooke."

"Stop, will you? _Nothing_ actually happened, and that's probably a good thing. I _just_ broke up with Brad, I can't go jumping into anything right now." Though the words left my mouth, I struggled to believe them myself. And she knew.

"You can't keep lying to yourself, B Davis. You _like_ this guy, I can tell from the way you talk about him. And that stupid grin on your face hasn't even dropped in the slightest. You totally need to do something about it, he's an attractive guy and if I were you I'd get in there.. before somebody else does."

Now that she mentioned it, I couldn't bear the thought of Jay with anybody else. Which was probably wrong of me. I knew she was right too, there was a feeling deep inside of me that had the strongest feelings towards him. I just had to get past the apprehensive part of me telling me to back away slightly.

"Soooo, do you have plans to see him again?" Peyton asked me as we walked towards the school building.

"P Sawyer, we go to the same school I'll probably see him today-"

"Stop, you know that's not what I meant!"

"Well, no actually I _don't_ have plans to see him again." Peyton and I reached the lockers and I pushed my bag inside. "Not yet anyway-"

Peyton raised her eyebrows. "Maybe you won't have to wait that long." I saw her gaze move past me, so I spun to see what she was looking at. And I was pleasantly surprised.

Jay caught eye contact with me and walked over to where we were standing. He stood in between us and looked at Peyton first. "Hey Peyton," His smile widened right before he turned to me. "Hey, you."

I felt myself immediately blush. "Hi," I saw the glow of his eyes intensify as he looked into mine. I wasn't sure if I could handle the way he looked at me, without doing anything about it. "What's up?" I tried my hardest to be polite, I didn't want to mention certain things in front of him when Peyton was around.

"Here's what's up," I guessed that he was speaking to both of us, but he still kept his gaze on me with the occasional glance at Peyton. "My mom is out of town this weekend, so me and Will are having a house party. You girls will come, right?"

"Oh absolutely!" Peyton answered him first and I knew she would, she wasn't one to turn down the idea of a house party. Especially one that involved alcohol and boys.

"We'll be there." I nodded, and I meant it. I wasn't going to pass on an opportunity to hang with him again, even though there was bound to be other girls there and we obviously wouldn't be hanging alone.

"Awesome. I gotta head to class, I'll see you." Jay's body moved before his eyes fell from my face and I watched as he turned in the direction he'd come from. I found myself still looking at him way after he left.

"Okay, seriously? You could at least _try_ and be subtle about it, Brooke."

"About what?" I focused my eyes on her again, unaware of what she was getting at.

"You, checking him out! Seriously, you gotta work on that." She laughed after she said it though, so I knew she was teasing me. I slapped her arm and waved to her as I headed to class.

I didn't have any classes with Peyton or Jay or Brad for that matter so my Tuesday was quiet. I was surprised that I could actually concentrate, considering my morning. I felt happy that Jay had invited me to his place, even if the time there was going to be spent with other people. I guessed I could steal him for at least five minutes or so if I wanted to.

* * *

I found myself excited for Friday night the entire _whole_ week. Just the thought of being in Jay's home again was enough for me, but I knew there was little chance of alone time together. And there was the possibility he'd invited people from Brad's crowd…

Peyton's dad was our ride to Jay's, and he looked pretty pissed when we got in the car. It probably had something to do with the fact we spent a _long_ time getting ready. I'd eventually chosen a skirt and a tank top, Peyton was wearing jeans and a shirt. She turned to me when we were in the car.

"Brooke, you look _good._ I mean it, if Jay doesn't try to make a move tonight there is something seriously wrong with him." At least I could rely on P Sawyer to make me feel good, I wasn't half as nervous when we arrived at Jay's house.

I thought Peyton's dad was dropping us early, but Jay's house was already in full party mode when we got there. It had just started to get dark and there were so many people, even spilling out into the garden. I could hear the music blaring from the windows before Peyton and I even made it up the driveway. I grabbed hold of her hand and fought my way into the house.

The scene was a total contrast from what the house looked like last night. I struggled to even hear myself think over the music, but I struggled hard not to lose Peyton's grip. I fought my way into the kitchen and towards the alcohol. As soon as I found the cups, I turned towards Peyton. She already had her eyes on where the college guys were standing, but I nudged her to get her attention.

"Drink?" I summoned Peyton towards me and watched as her eyes went wide at the selection.

"I'll have a Mikes," She grabbed a bottle from in front of me and I did the same. I felt like I wanted to get drunk, but I could start off light. And I wanted to say hi to Jay.

Peyton's eyes drifted back to the college guys and I knew she wanted to go and talk to them. It wasn't her duty to stay with me I guess, so I pointed to the group so she knew it was okay to go over. I watched as she practically skipped in their direction, doing the hair twirl thing she always did when she flirted. I stood at the counter for a second, noticing how easy it was for her to strike up a conversation with the older guys.

I grabbed my bottle and squeezed through the bodies in the kitchen, in an attempt to find who I'd really come to the party to see. My eyes scanned the dining area, where we'd sat last night and where I swore, _I swore_ , he'd brushed his hand against mine a few times. He wasn't there though and I found myself wandering into the lounge. The music was louder and there were more people in there, so I struggled to see even more. The amount of time I spent looking for him made me down the rest of my drink. I pressed through the crowd again in a bid to get myself another drink. I was done with the Mike's though and settled for vodka instead.

There were so many people in the house I didn't know, so I guessed most of them had gotten the invite from Will. Each time I looked in a different direction, there was more people I hadn't seen before. I craned my neck to the opposite side of the kitchen: Peyton was still there, leaning on the arm of one of the older guys.

I needed air, I needed to go outside. It was the third time I had to force myself through the crowd. But it felt like I could breathe again when I got there. The grass area was pretty full with people too, but at least there was air there. I found a space on one of the garden benches, sitting on the end and taking large gulps of my vodka.

I felt a hand take my free one and pull me from where I was sat. It was dark though, and I struggled to see who it was before we came to a halt around the corner.

"There you are," His voice was husky and I could tell he was already pretty tipsy. I noticed his hand didn't drop from my own, even long after we'd stopped walking.

"Jay," I felt my face spread into a smile. "I had no idea you guys were so popular." It was still so loud that I found myself almost shouting.

He laughed. "Hey, most of these people are Will's friends. And friends of Will's friends. Way more than the number we agreed on." He took a sip of his beer. "I'm glad you made it, Brooke."

I backed myself against the wall, having the overwhelming urge that I was about to fall over. Probably in part because of the alcohol and partly because if I moved any closer to him, it would mean I was in trouble. I gulped down some of my vodka and looked at him. His nose was a damn sight better today, I noticed the lack of swelling and the coloring beginning to turn back to normal. As I lowered the glass from my face I saw Jay take a step towards me, his green eyes still staring into my own. I felt a shiver travel my spine. It kinda pissed me off that he could cause me to feel this way without any contact between us.

Jay noticed my body movement. "Hey, are you cold? We should go inside," He grasped my hand again and started around the corner. It was much easier for Jay to fight his way through the crowds, I made it through after him easily. He led us straight to the kitchen and towards the alcohol counter.

"We should do shots," He turned towards me and grinned.

I grimaced. "Shots? No way, I can't-"

"Sure you can." I watched as he reached for shot glasses, pouring a green liquid into them and handing one to me. "Here, it's not that bad I promise." He whispered in my ear, clinking his glass against mine and then knocking back the liquid. I did the same, surprised that he was telling the truth: it wasn't so bad. But I felt the percentage of it hit me straight away, and I knew a few more would make me crazy tipsy. Though it did taste better than the vodka, so I motioned for him to pour me another.

He shook his head laughing, but obliged and poured two more. After they'd disappeared, he poured me another vodka and got another beer for himself. He leaned back against the counter.

"So," he took a gulp of his beer. "Between you and me, I'm kicking these people out soon. I'm beginning to forget what my house looks like. This wasn't my idea of a house party, there's too many people."

I nodded, but didn't know what to say. Was it a way of asking us all to leave in the politest way possible? Before I found words, I felt his arm bend gently around my side.

"You don't have to go though," I took a step closer to him, allowing his arm to curve further around my waste. "You can _stay_."

"Good," I think the alcohol gave me a new level of confidence, as I whispered the word in his ear. It was more like a shout in his ear considering the music level, but I watched as his face spread into a smirk.

I gazed at him as he saw off the beer, then reached for my hand again and with some speed began to walk out of the kitchen. I followed his footsteps until he came to a halt at the wall, the wall I knew was the concealed entrance to his bedroom.

I backed myself against the door, wondering how the hell it opened. Jay stepped further forward towards me, one of his hands resting against the wall. His other hand hovered in the air, leaving me pondering where it wanted to be. His breath was hot as I felt his face getting closer to my own.

"I can't.. I can't stay away from you," His other hand finally made movement and I averted my eyes towards it as his arm pulled me towards him. I felt my breathing hitch as he did so.

I chewed on my lip. "Then, _don't_." My arms were still at my side and it felt unfair he was touching me without me touching him. I took one of my arms and held it against his chest, tugging slightly at the material of his shirt.

"Brooke," He spoke my name through gritted teeth and I knew immediately what he wanted. I craved the same. His grip around my body strengthened, closing any gaps we still had between us. The moment he did, my willpower vanished. I didn't know who was more surprised, me or Jay, when I pulled hard on the material of his shirt until our lips were inches apart. "I really want to-"

Jay didn't get the chance to finish the sentence before my mouth was on his. It was passionate and it was intense, nothing like I'd ever experienced before. At the contact, I gasped and he took advantage of my parted lips. His tongue slid inside my mouth, twisting against mine in a way that made _seriously_ inappropriate noises erupt from my throat.

My hands were at the hem of his shirt before I knew what they were doing, but soon I felt his hands on top of mine.

"Not here," he groaned, as he backed away from my slightly and pushed against his bedroom door. He guided me through the darkness and quickly shut the door behind us. I leaned close to him as we stumbled down the dark staircase and towards his bed. His grasp was firm on me as he guided us towards where he slept.

Our kissing turned frantic again, almost desperate and I felt totally at ease when he lowered us towards the bed. I thought I was going to pass out from oxygen deprivation if we didn't part lips soon. At the same time, every fiber in my body wanted and _needed_ to keep kissing him.

My hands were at the hem of his shirt before I knew they were there, and I managed to pull off the shirt before I could make them stop. I was aware I was getting totally lost in the moment as I let my fingers travel the length of his bare back. The feel of his skin was hot, it was hard, it was smooth. And I was totally okay with it. I felt my fingers claw the line of his shoulders.

Jay groaned. "Shit," His fingers played with the stitching of the bottom of my tank before he gently slid it up and over my head. I watched as he disregarded the item and quickly forgot about it. He was only away from my body briefly, lowering himself over me again much to my delight.

I fought hard to stop the noises escaping my body, but it was true that nobody had ever made me feel this way before. Nobody had ever _touched_ me this way before. I found myself gasping as he dropped one of his hands to the inside of my thighs, pushing up the material of my skirt so he could touch me.

Though the moment felt euphoric, I was fully aware of what was about to happen. And it was obviously something I hadn't experienced before. My breathing was getting heavier and heavier and I fought hard through my panting to speak.

"Jay," I just about managed to utter his name. "W-w-wait." One of my hands travelled to where his were located between my legs and I pinched his skin.

He suddenly froze. "What? What is it?" Even in his current state, he still managed to sound concerned. I think the expression on my face made the problem clearer. "Wait. Are you a.."

I groaned. "Virgin?" I said loudly, so he didn't have to suffer through it. "Yeah, I am. Don't rub it in, okay?"

Jay's eyes widened but he refused to back away. His fingers slowed their actions but he looked at me and smiled. "Are you crazy? Why would I rub it in, Brooke?" His words did nothing to ease the throb between my legs though, and I somewhat hated myself for this.

His hand left my thigh and I felt it come into contact with the side of my face. His lips found mine again before he said anything else. The kiss was intense and left me breathless once again.

"I want this Brooke, I want _you_." He backed away from me slightly so he could look at me whilst he spoke. "You drive me crazy. But I don't want it to happen like this," He sighed nervously. "Not when we're drunk like this,"

One of my arms wound around his neck and into his hair. I couldn't believe he was being so sweet. I couldn't believe I had _found_ him. All I could do was hold him as his words registered in my brain.

"I want this, too. _Thank you_." I wasn't entirely sure what I was thanking him for, but the fact he was willing to wait for me was definitely part of it. He held me tight as I whispered the words in his ear.

"Are you kidding, Brooke? I want this to be what you want too, when you're ready to. Just.. tell me." His lips found mine again, and I didn't even regret telling him.

I'd never felt like I just opened myself up in the most vulnerable, intimate way and the fact I'd known Jay not even three weeks didn't matter to me. All that mattered was the way he held me and that his eyes spoke to me in a way I'd never felt before. I was pretty sure my eyes were doing the same, looking and gazing at him in a way to show him that I wanted him. I wanted to be his. But he was right, being drunk would hurt me less but I wanted to remember it, too.

The last thing on my mind was the fact I was in a relationship last week. I didn't even want to think about that ever again. I wanted Jay Halstead to claim me, that was the only thing I desired.

Jay sat up slowly, kissing my forehead before he did so. I followed in his actions but he stood up from the bed when I did.

I panicked a little, thinking he'd said what he did to make me feel better. "Wait, where are you going?"

He didn't reply, but was only out of sight for a couple of seconds. He came back armed with one of his shirts and extended his arm towards him.

"So, how about tonight we just sleep?" He came back over to the bed and gave me his shirt. I was eager to learn it smelt like him, as I held it against my chest. "I really don't feel like socializing with Will's jack-ass friends and I'd much rather stay with you. Plus," He glanced towards his alarm clock and laughed. "I'm pretty sure Peyton is about to leave with one of his friends. And it _is_ almost 1am. I don't know about you but," His eyes averted my face and quickly glanced at my thighs. "That was pretty intense, and I guess I need sleep."

I nodded at him, sleeping did sound great. I was sure I was gonna wake up with a horrible headache anyway. I watched as Jay walked away from me to allow me to strip myself of my own clothes and slip into his T-shirt. I waited for Jay to return before climbing under the covers. He got in first, opening his arms wide so I could lie in his grip. I grabbed hold of one of his hands as it tucked itself across my chest. His embrace felt warm and safe, and it didn't take me much time to fall asleep in his arms.

 **Please Review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

When I woke up the next morning, I guess I was confused. The bed I was occupying definitely wasn't my own, and there was a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. Oh God, hadn't I broken up with Brad?

That's when I remembered I wasn't with Brad at all. I was still in the protective embrace of Jay. I must have fallen asleep in his arms, we were still in the same position as last night. The room was quiet apart from his soft snores, I struggled hard not to laugh at the tickle of his breathing in my ear. I was lying in a spot so damn comfortable that it didn't even bother me I'd woken up first. I thought about trying to go back to sleep, but it never worked and I could never sleep in late when I'd drank alcohol.

I lay in the dark- Jay's drapes were _amazing_ at keeping out the light- thinking about the events of last night. The party had been good, I knew now the new Halstead brothers would be the talk of my classes. Although, I had no idea how the party has ended, Jay had left his brother to handle that. And I couldn't remember the amount of liquor I'd had, but I guess it wasn't enough for me to make stupid decisions. I'd still said no last night, and Jay had been totally fine with that. Which was why I was so drawn to him- he's nothing like the guys I've dated in the past. Compared to him, they all seem like total jerks.

I was glad he couldn't hear my thoughts though, it was kinda embarrassing how my feelings were growing so quickly and I'd only known him a couple of weeks. There was just something about him I couldn't stay away from.

A deep sigh came from behind me, and I knew he was waking up. His arms unlocked from around me and I heard him stretch, vocalizing apparently how good it felt to do so. I was surprised at how much I didn't want him to move away from me: he'd felt warm and cozy. I flipped the direction of my body towards him so I could look. How was he still _so_ cute this early in the morning? He was sporting serious slept-in hair and his eyes were sleepy, but damn.

Jay smiled, a throaty laugh that was the best thing to hear in a morning. "Brooke," He scooted back over to my side of the bed, it was like he'd read my mind. He lay back on the pillow just gazing at me. "Good morning."

"Hi," There was definite color in my cheeks, and I prayed it was still dark enough so he couldn't see it. I outstretched my own arm to rest on his, Jay's skin was still warm and I just felt the desire to touch him.

"How are you feeling?" He'd noticed my touch and moved to pull my body closer, his arms again snaking around his T-shirt I was wearing so we were only occupying a small space of the bed. He slid his hand up my back as he asked me, one of his hands leaving my spine and resting against my face. The T-shirt slithered up past my stomach at his movements, putting my panties against his lower torso.

A small gasp left my lips at the contact, my body still had intense feelings even though nothing had happened _down there_. "I'm okay," I whispered my answer to his question. I was more than okay with being here, even given the pain erupting in the back of my head. "I think I'm gonna have a headache." Something told me my after effect of my liquor intake hadn't set in properly yet, I was bound to feel crap later.

"I have a cure for that," Jay reclaimed his arms and balanced himself up on his elbows. "Do you feel up to breakfast?"

It was light enough for me to see him properly now, meaning he could probably see me. I nodded and threw the comforter from myself. Though I didn't want to move from the bed really, I had a feeling breakfast would make me feel a little better.

Jay got out of bed first, stretching again before reaching down to draw me from the mattress. I started up the stairs after him, then remembered all I was dressed in was his shirt. It was long enough to cover my panties, once I'd pulled it back down, but the upstairs meant we weren't in his personal space anymore. He turned around and saw me looking down at it.

"Oh, here." He broke our hands apart and ran back to his closet. He returned with a bathrobe and covered my shoulders. Then I made it up the rest of the stairs and out of his bedroom. He halted in front of me.

"Shiiiiiiit," Jay's eyes darted around the lower floor of his house.

It was a _mess_ and I mean a _mess._ As I followed where Jay was looking, I could hardly see the floor. There were beer bottles and crates decorating the floor, puddles of what I presumed was alcohol on the tiles. I guess it was a relief they'd thrown the party before Ashley had fixed up the house properly: if she had, her sons would have definitely been in trouble. His hand guided me further through the house, into the kitchen. Will and his girlfriend (I'd learnt her name was Megan, she was in college with him) were already there. Both of them looked worse than I felt, apparently college parties had nothing on the Halstead brothers' parties. I think Will had heard Jay speak.

"Shit indeed, lil brother. How did we let it get this bad?" Will's eyes left his girlfriend and he looked at us as we entered the room. "I'll tell you, it wouldn't have been left in this much of a mess if my brother had been around to help me get rid of people." His focus shifted from me to Jay then back to me. Then back to his brother, and Will's eyes narrowed. "But apparently you were, ya know, _busy_."

I stood hidden in Jay's shadow, pretty sure my face was the color of a tomato. It was obviously Will's assumption because there was _no_ way he could have heard us, especially over the noise of the party.

"You're an asshole," Jay laughed, my hand still wrapped in his. "Did you guys make any breakfast?" Jay paused and waited for his answer, but his brother and Megan shook their heads. "Of course you didn't, you're college students. Why would I think any different?"

Will scowled in Jay's direction, but it didn't last. "Come on brother, you know you're a better cook than me. I figured you'd want to cook breakfast for us, and your girl."

I'd thought the comment would go straight over my head, but I froze. Will's choice of words hit me, did he just call me Jay's _girl_?

"Okay, nice save." Jay replied as Will and Megan moved away from the kitchen. I guess they were going to make a start with cleaning the house. I was kinda glad they were shifting to the other room, I felt a bit awkward. Here I was in Jay's clothes, so they'd obviously made their assumptions about me.

I thought maybe I should help them, but when they were out of the room Jay pulled me closer, round to the other side of the kitchen. It looked bigger when it wasn't full of so many people. I followed him to the bar stools- I hadn't even noticed they existed last night. He motioned for me to sit in one of them and I did, his robe falling to either side of my body and revealing more of my skin. I saw him glance down momentarily before his eyes locked with my own. I was seriously contemplating kissing him.

"Is French toast alright with you?" Jay slowly broke apart our fingers, but still stood dangerously close to me. I nodded in response and suddenly he closed the remaining gap between us. I felt his lips slightly touch my forehead and then he stepped away, as though he didn't recognize what had come over him. I smiled, realizing I didn't have to feel guilty for doing so if he couldn't see me.

I didn't even stop there, allowing myself to fully check him out while he slaved away over the cooker. He'd left his bedroom dressed only in a pair of sweats, and it was _much_ to my advantage. I watched as his arms flexed whilst he fixed the ingredients, the muscles in his back making my imagination go crazy. It was a wonder to me that nobody on the school's sports teams had picked him up yet, he definitely had the physique for sport. But maybe nobody had noticed him yet, or maybe he didn't want to play sports?

He brought me breakfast a few minutes later, occupying the stool next to mine. I noticed he'd also brought me orange juice and dropped a couple of pills next to my plate.

"Just in case you still got that headache,"

I did, actually. Subconsciously I'd pushed it to the back of my mind, but it was still there- a reminder of the alcohol in my system from the party. A nod of my head thanked him, and I swallowed them with a mouthful of the juice. I moved onto the food he'd made for me next, and if they tasted as good as they were smelling right now then Will had to be right: Jay could cook.

Will was right of course, and breakfast was amazing. But I knew I couldn't sit in my panties and Jay's T-shirt all day, even if it was what I wanted to do most. I had a shift at the café, I probably should go home at some point and I also needed to check up on Peyton. Jay had told me she'd left with one of Will's friends but I still felt awful for not checking up on her. I felt even more awful when I realized this was the first point I'd thought about her this morning.

It was like he read my mind. "What are your plans for today Brooke Davis?" Again with the full name thing, and I shivered. His tone sounded hopeful, but I didn't know what it meant.

"I have a shift at the café," My unwillingness to leave was shown in my voice, and I think he sensed it to. I didn't _want_ to leave. To be truthful, I couldn't think of anything worse than having a stint at work today, even though I didn't mind working there most of the time.

"Okay, I'll drop you home."

I was thankful for his offer, remembering Peyton's dad had dropped us last night and I didn't have any other way of getting home. Unless I walked, but I didn't feel like doing that dressed in last night's clothes. Jay stood from the seat he was occupying and removed our dishes. Then he started walking back towards his bedroom so I followed him. He moved around the corner so I could change back into my own clothes, but offered one of his sweatshirts so I wouldn't be cold on the drive.

"I'm dropping Brooke home!" Jay shouted through the hallway, as we made our way to his Jeep. I pulled the sleeves of his jacket over my hands, hoping he wasn't going to ask for it back. He turned on the car radio when we'd got in, immediately recognizing the song and humming along. I was glad that he seemed so at ease with me and I watched as his hands tapped against the wheel. We reached my house too quickly and he killed the engine.

His hands left the wheel and he ran one of them through his hair. It was still stuck up in all the wrong places, he'd literally just shoved a T-shirt and shoes on to drop me home. But I was aware that I probably didn't look much better: I hadn't checked the mirror yet, but I was fairly sure my make-up would be down my face and my hair would be a mess. The hand closest to me dropped to my knee, I was wearing last night's skirt so it lay on my bare skin.

I wanted to say something before he did. But I didn't exactly know _what._

"You guys know how to throw a party." Not exactly what I wanted to lead with, but I was avoiding the thing we should be talking about. Plus, I was probably avoiding going into the house too knowing I would have to get ready for work.

"Yeah, I enjoyed it," He smiled whilst chewing his lower lip, and I got that he was referring to the end of the night rather than the party itself.

"Jay-"

"Hey, you don't have to say anything. I meant what I said to you last night, I told you, I'll wait for you."

I threw myself forward then, pressing my lips hard on his own. I think it took him by surprise, he gasped before he got into the kiss. When he did, one of his hands tangled in my hair and the other stayed on my leg but worked higher to my thigh. Maybe I hadn't had sex before, but that didn't mean I wasn't capable of _other_ things. I opened my mouth slowly and Jay immediately slid his tongue into my mouth. His hand left my hair and he moved it carefully across my jaw.

Heading to work was the thing I wanted to do least of everything in the world right now. I would be quite happy making out with Jay for the rest of the day, although maybe not in the front seats of his car. I backed away to gasp for air, but knew I had to get out of the Jeep: I couldn't afford to be _fired_.

Jay seemed to understand, even if his facial expression was telling me to stay.

"I hope work goes by quickly for you, Brooke. What are your plans for after?"

"I'm not sure," It was the truth. "I should probably check up on Peyton."

"Right. Well if you need anything, or you get bored-"

"I'll call you." I would probably end up doing that anyway, we'd spent so much time with each other and our topics of conversations had been _nothing_ to do with our project. Not that I needed that anymore as an excuse to hang out with him.

"I'll see you, Brooke." He waved me out of the car and stayed static until I'd made it to the door. When I turned, he began to drive off. My hand went to my face and I unconsciously took in the scent of his sweatshirt (that he hadn't asked me to return). As if I needed reminding, but it smelt exactly like him.

As soon as I was in my bedroom, I took a shower. Last night had been hot- in more ways than one. It didn't take much of my time to get ready for work, I didn't have anybody to impress so I could go in looking and feeling like crap I guess. Before I did anything else though, I took out my cell and scrolled down to P.

A wave of relief hit me when she answered, because I hadn't heard from her in so long. She might have tried to call me actually but I'd been so preoccupied that I hadn't even thought to check. Her voice was croaky, the way it always went after she'd been drunk.

"Hello?" Peyton asked in a weird tone, as if she didn't know who was calling.

"Peyton. Are you okay?" The older Halstead's friends didn't seem like jerks but they were still college guys. I wondered where she'd got to last night.

"I feel like there's an elephant standing on my face." That explained how she was feeling then. "Enough about me though! Where did you disappear off to?"

I thought it was obvious. "Do you really have to ask that question?" I bit my lip, as I sensed the realization set in my best friend's tone.

She kinda squealed, even before I'd really explained anything. "Oh God, Jay! Wait, why are you just calling me back now? Did you stay the night? You did, didn't you?! What happened? Oh pleaseeee, tell me everything!" The tone of her suggested strongly to me that she was okay. And judging by how enthusiastic she sounded, it looked to me like her night hadn't been as exciting.

She was so impatient Peyton kept interrupting my retelling of what happened.

"Damn at least his Mom wasn't there to _interrupt_ this time. This is so great Brooke, I've never heard you sound this happy before. I don't even need to be there with you to know you're wearing that stupid grin."

She was right of course, I was wearing that 'stupid' grin. I couldn't help smiling, even when I just thought about him. It was ridiculous, but it was okay because nobody could see me.

"Okay, I have to get ready for work. Can we hang later?"

"Um, duh. I have to see you. I'll drive around when you finish."

The shift wasn't half as bad as I expected, the café was practically dead and the customers I did have were pleasant. I drove straight home, Peyton was already there. I knew I should never have told her the spare key location, she used it all the time to her advantage. She was waiting for me in the kitchen.

"Do you mind not eating all of my food?"

Peyton jumped when I spoke, crackers spraying from her mouth. I didn't mind when she ate the food really, I didn't have to pay for it. I just found her reaction funny and she scowled at me.

"I'm glad you think you're funny, B Davis. I had to eat your food, I've been waiting a while and I deserved it."

I wasn't sure what she meant by the 'waiting a while' comment but I didn't say anything. I narrowed my eyes at her and focused the conversation back to last night. "So, how was your night?" My eyebrows lifted and I laughed, because I knew what drunk Peyton was like and I knew before she answered what would have happened.

Peyton pulled a face. "It was okay, I'd give him a four out of ten."

"You're too funny. I'll tell Will you said that, about his friends."

"Don't you dare!" She shoved another cracker into her mouth and swallowed it quickly. "Anyway, enough about my night. We have to talk about next week."

I was confused, I was sure she'd want to talk more about the party. "Next week?"

"Um, your birthday? I'm serious, why don't we have plans yet?"

I'd talked about my birthday for _months_ in advance and now it was approaching, it totally slipped my mind to plan something. It was totally last minute now, and I didn't even know what to plan.

"I don't know, should we just go to the bar or something?"

"Oh, yes!" Anything with alcohol involved would have Peyton sold. It was always a fun opportunity to use the fake IDs we had. I knew it was always a risk, but I'm only 18 once right? "Are you gonna invite Jay?"

"To a girls' night? I don't think so.." I didn't want to let whatever was happening with Jay interfere with my relationship with my best friend. They could spend time together occasionally, but I'd come to like separate time with them individually.

"I think you should, or at least do something with him. It's your _birthday_ , Brooke. If he likes you as much as you like him he'll want to do something with you."

I knew she was right (again) but I didn't know how to ask him. There wasn't a label to our relationship yet, so I didn't know the appropriate thing to say. I suppose I had a week to figure that out.

"We should go shopping through the week, after class." Peyton continued, still crammed another wafer in her mouth then frowned at the empty package. "I'm gonna need to look good, if we're going to the club."

"True P Sawyer, we should do that." A trip to the mall was always a good idea, and I knew with Peyton I'd end up leaving with practically a new closet.

She stayed late but I was relieved when she did eventually leave because I wanted to go to bed. I felt bad but I didn't even have the energy to hold a phone call with Jay, the shift at the café seemed to have taken more out of me than I thought. I made my way up the stairs and collapsed into my bed. I dropped him a text though, so he wouldn't feel offended.

Apparently I _was_ tired and I got a good ten hours sleep on Saturday night. It felt weird at first to be alone in bed after the previous night, but then I remembered just how much I loved my own bed. There was something unreal about the shape of it, and I think the circular build of it made it more feel more comfortable.

When I'd been awake for a while, I checked my cell. I don't think I'd managed to stay awake for a reply from Jay last night, but there were several there when I checked this morning. I called him instead of replying, my intention was to ask him over. Though we'd spent time together, we hadn't actually done what we were supposed to be spending time together for originally: which was work or research for the project. I'd still only seen one John Hughes film, and I couldn't write words on him if I didn't know more.

He answered straight away, but he sounded out of breath. I figured he was out at the gym or on a run or something.

"Brooke," yep, definitely breathing heavier than usual. "Hey, what's up?"

"I was thinking maybe you could come here for a movie today? We haven't done any work this weekend-"

"Oh, I'd love to but I can't today."

I thought it was slightly cryptic that he didn't expand. I hesitated in case he was about to say something else, but he didn't. "Oh, okay." I hated already how there was a tinge of sadness in my tone. I'd only seen him yesterday, I didn't need to see him again today! Also, I was perfectly capable of watching the movie on my own. "I'll watch another of his movies. Which one should I watch?"

"They're all good, Brooke. I'd say Breakfast Club, you should watch that. I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you at school?"

"Sure. See ya then." I pressed the button to end the call, but didn't move from bed straight away. I thought it had been a good idea at the time I'd suggested it, to watch another of his movies together but apparently I wasn't on Jay's mind today. Not like the way he was on mine, circling every single one of my thoughts as I played out scenarios in my head. The reason he seemed so off and out of breath had to be something to do with sport, didn't it? I dreaded to think of the other thing it could be, but the idea entered my mind anyway and I had to distract myself from it.

I didn't even want to get out of bed as the movie was playing. It was Sunday, and all I wanted to do on such a day was stay in bed and chill all day. There wasn't a point in doing anything, and I thought it was perfectly acceptable to stay put, especially when I was watching a movie for research.

I liked this John Hughes guy way better after the end of this movie, it was so damn relatable. The athlete, the basket case, the princess, the criminal, the nerd: they were all categories people were put in at school. I wondered why Jay liked this guy so much, but now I was beginning to realize.

When the movie was over, I finally forced myself from bed. I headed downstairs to make food and sat in front of the TV for a while. A complete contrast to my Friday night, my Sunday was beginning to get boring. It sucked that I seemed to rely on other people to improve my day, and it sucked even more that I felt like I was being annoying by asking them to do stuff.

So I even found myself looking forward to classes starting again on Monday. I didn't mind school to begin with, but now Jay didn't have an excuse and I could ask him about yesterday. I'd had a feeling that maybe he would call me back but that didn't happen.

Peyton and I were taking our own cars, she was headed out after school and wanted to go right away, so we agreed to meet at school. I didn't even have to force myself up in the morning, I was surprisingly awake for a Monday. I got showered and dressed quickly, spending most of the time I had on my hair and make-up. I packed together my things and drove to the school vehicle park.

I'd thought a little on Sunday night about what to say to Jay about my birthday. I'd have to play it cool, try and make it seem as though we could do something low-key, something that wouldn't take much of an effort. I would be happy just spending time with him, it didn't have to be anything crazy.

When I started the walk towards the building, I thought it was weird that there were more people outside than usual. On a normal Monday morning, people would be fighting through the hallways or walking to the classrooms. They wouldn't all be standing outside in groups, outside the building. As I neared the huddles of people, I suddenly felt a chill and it didn't take me long to realize why.

They were all staring at me.

I thought I was being paranoid at first, but then they appeared to terminate their conversations when I approached.

They _were_ staring at me, some of them being less obvious than others hiding their faces behind their binders but others just full-on staring. I felt totally uneasy.

Then I saw Peyton walking from the building, Jay was following behind and they both strode towards me. It made me feel the tiniest bit better.

"What's going on?" The words hissed from my mind, I wasn't exactly the quietest girl in the school but I didn't think I'd given other people a reason to stare at me so strictly.

Peyton opened and closed her mouth like a fish, Jay looked down at the floor. The pair of them looked as though they couldn't tell me something. Or _wouldn't._

"Brooke, I don't want you to freak out-" Peyton finally found some words.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell her here. Not in front of everybody-"

Jay moved around to the side of me and if it was his way of offering me slight comfort, it wasn't working. I don't know what I was gonna do if somebody didn't open their mouth soon.

"One of you better tell me, or I swear-"

Jay's hand moved to around my waist and I recognized it was probably a bold move, he'd just done it in front of practically the whole school.

"Okay. It's Brad. He's spread these awful rumors about you. One of his friends must have been at my party. They saw us together," Jay was no longer looking at the floor, but he refused to make eye contact with me. "This is my fault, I'm sorry Brooke. You don't deserve this, but what he's been saying is pretty much round the entire school-"

"What did he say?" I think I was shaking, but it was calmer underneath Jay's grip.

"He's slut shaming you, Brooke. Everybody thinks you cheated on him with me. I tried to fix it, but I guess he's more popular than me."

I threw my school things on the ground and stormed inside. Sure enough, Brad had made his feelings quite clear all over my locker. The red marker spelled words I don't even want to repeat, the mildest one reading 'slut'. I'd never cried in school before but I felt the tears threaten in my eyes, stinging my entire face as the hallways started to fill with people. Obviously hungry for my reaction.

I knew breaking up with Brad would have repercussions and consequences, but I didn't know he would stoop to this level. He hadn't done this with any of his other ex-girlfriends. I don't even know what sort of kick he got out of it, he'd moved on already but was making me out to be the bad guy.

Peyton and Jay had followed me, Peyton running in with the things I'd dropped on the floor. They weren't the only two I could see though, the one person I totally couldn't hack right now appeared in the corner of my view.

Brad.

It was like something came over me, I couldn't believe his nerve. He was standing with a group of girls, the stupidest and widest smirk on his stupid face. Honestly, he pissed me off so bad. The threat of my tears was overtaken by the anger that built up inside me. _How dare he._ He was approximately ten steps to the right of me, and I made it over there quicker than I could change my mind. I threw a punch, and to my surprise, it collided with his nose- pretty much the place he'd hit Jay a few weeks ago. It was the least he deserved.

It was a joint effort between my best friend and boy-I-was-seeing-but-didn't-know-what-to-label-it/lab partner to pull me away. When they did, that was when the tears eventually. They ran and ran, continued to run as they heaved me from the hallway. I clung to Jay's shirt as they subsided.

Peyton spoke. "I have a lab, Jay you'll watch her right?"

"Of course," He waited for her to be out of ear shot before he spoke again. "Hey, you're okay. I know this sucks, Brooke but he's an asshole. He doesn't deserve your tears." His hand rose to my face, wiping the stream of salty water that was running the length of my face. He looked around the quiet section of the hallway he'd brought me to. "In fact you don't even _need_ to be here today, you need to be well away from here. Let's go."

 **Please Review :)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Brooke, please don't cry."

That was easier said than done, but I tried all the same. My tears slowly subsided as Jay led me from the building. I followed his footsteps until we got to his car. He opened up the passenger side and I got in, closing the door behind me. I was only in the car alone for two seconds as Jay got in at the other side.

He threw his school stuff onto the back seat, taking my books and my bag from my arms. He did the same with mine, before turning back to me. Jay didn't start the engine, he reached a hand towards my face and wiped it dry.

"Are you okay?" He scoffed at himself before I had a chance to answer. "Alright, that was a stupid question, forgive me. I hope you know, Brooke, I'm not usually one to skip school but you deserve better than that shit. Skipping one day of class is okay, right?" I noticed he hadn't pulled his hand away yet and I tilted my head, resting my cheek against his palm.

I was more than okay with skipping school today because it was the last place I wanted to be. In any case, the main reason I was looking forward to class today was because I had lab with Jay. Either way, I was glad he was the one I was with now.

"Where should we go?" He started the engine. "Is there anywhere you want to go?"

I shook my head, knowing he'd probably never seen me this quiet before. "Can you just take me home?" I sniffed.

He was focused on driving, but the hand closest to me reached for my own. He intertwined our fingers, and even the smallest of gestures brought me so much comfort. He automatically made me feel better.

"Yeah, if you're sure," His one hand on the wheel took a left, further away from the school building. I realized soon though that he wasn't going anywhere near the turn-off for my house. He was headed somewhere different..

"Jay, where are you going? My house is that way-" I pointed out of the window, but the turn-off was now in the distance. Jay was still driving the car in a forward motion.

"Relax, I'll take you home. I just thought I'd take you for fro-yo first."

There was _no_ way he could possibly know that fro-yo is exactly what I need after I've been crying. I relaxed now I knew where he was taking me, I wasn't going to turn down my favorite dessert. He pulled into the drive through and ordered for me. Then he handed me the carton, both cartons as he got one for himself. Jay pulled out of the drive-in and into a parking space.

I handed his flavor back to him and took a spoonful of my own. It didn't take me long to finish it, even considering it was still so early in the morning.

"Thank you," I put the empty carton in one of the cup holders of Jay's Jeep. "That was exactly what I needed."

"You're welcome, I knew it would make you feel better." His gaze fell upon me. "See? You're even smiling again, it's amazing… the power of fro-yo."

"Yep, it's definitely the fro-yo-" I turned towards the window as the words left my lips, not sure if he heard or not. I didn't mind either way, but secretly hoped he did.

He left the car quickly to throw the cartons in the trash, then ran back to the car and slammed the door behind him.

"So, home?" Jay wiped any escaped dessert from his mouth with his tongue.

"Please," I nodded, although the reason I was going home was right at the back of my mind.

He turned on the radio quietly for background noise as he drove towards my house. When we reached it, he stretched into the back for my bag. He handed it to me before leaning towards me. "Call me later if you need anything, okay?"

I frowned. "You're not coming in?"

"Do you want me to?" I nodded my head towards him. "Sure."

It was a weekday, so I knew the only person in would be the house-keeper. She never bothered really with me though, so she wouldn't think twice about me being home early. She would stay out of my way. I led Jay up to the door and opened it, he stepped inside after me. I threw my school stuff down in the hallway and walked towards the kitchen.

"What do you feel like doing?" Jay walked further into the kitchen, and I forgot that he'd been here before. Images of his bloody nose filled my mind for a second as I remembered.

I shrugged, it was my home but suddenly my mind was blank. What did I usually do at this time? Oh that's right, I was at _school_. I wasn't used to being home at this time.

"Well we could be productive, and watch a John Hughes movie? Which ones have you yet to see?" He leaned against the center counter, and it caused his muscles to show. The material of his T-shirt tightened as it got caught between his chest and the kitchen island.

"Um, so we watched _Ferris Bueller_? And I watched _Breakfast Club,_ " I said. "What else is there?"

""So many, Brooke!" Whenever he talked about this guy, it was with so much passion and enthusiasm. I wonder if he talked about anything else this way. "You've seen _Home Alone_ , right?"

"Wait, that's one of his movies?" I watched as he nodded.

"Yes! So I take it you've seen that one?" It was my turn to nod. "What about _Uncle Buck_?" Then I shook my head. "No way, that's one of my favorites! Can you get it?"

I knew we'd be able to stream it. I moved through into the lounge and he followed close behind me. Jap collapsed onto one of the couches whilst I looked for the clicker. When I found it, I sat down next to him and started up the TV. I felt his eyes on me as I checked through the channels. It didn't take me any time to find a stream and I threw the clicker onto the carpet.

There was a little room between us as the movie started. I folded my legs underneath myself, knowing we'd be sitting there for a few hours.

"Hey, come here." The distance wasn't something either of us wanted, and he ushered me closer by outstretching an arm towards me. I followed his request, kinda thankful that he'd said something first. My back was against his chest, his arm around me. It felt like the most comfortable position, and I was ready to watch the movie.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other two I'd watched, even if it did happen to be Jay's favorite. I found myself distracted half way though, and I thought he was the same. For the past hour, he'd been fidgeting and not sitting still: I remained in his embrace, but his fingers were dancing around the back of my hand and his leg was twitching.

I figured he wouldn't be too bothered if I talked through it, he'd probably seen this movie a lot of times before anyway. Maybe it was the right time to mention my birthday?

"Jay," I turned towards him slowly. I didn't know how to approach the idea of the event, without looking desperate and looking like I _wanted_ to do something with him. (There was nothing I wanted more, but he didn't have to know that..)

"What's up, Brooke?" There was a look of apprehension on his face, one that told me he had no idea what I was going to say.

"So it's my birthday Saturday-"

"It is? What are you doing for it?"

I paused, I didn't really know everything about him yet and wasn't sure if he'd have something to say about me using a fake ID. "I'm probably gonna go to Tric with Peyton on Friday, but then I'm not sure-"

Jay frowned. "Tric? What's that?"

I forgot he still hadn't been here for too long. "It's a bar, club, whatever-"

"How are you gonna get in?"

I chewed my lip, I was just gonna tell him the truth. To be honest, he couldn't say anything against it. Not that I thought he would. "I have a fake ID."

He laughed. "You do? Nice," Jay ran a hand through his hair, with the opposite arm that wasn't still wrapped around me. "So, it's just you and Peyton? And you don't have plans for the Saturday?"

"Yep and yep," I answered.

"So, you'd be free if I asked to take you out? Would that be okay?"

I found myself elated that he asked. "Sure, I'd love that." And I would, I wasn't going to lie to him. I didn't even care that how I was feeling probably showed on my face.

"Me too, Brooke. Me too." His fingers tightened around my own and he moved forward to kiss me. I closed my eyes as his lips connected with mine at the softest touch.

It wasn't a long make-out session, but it was enough to make me feel a million times better than I had- certainly this morning. The credits at the end of the movie rolled up the TV screen as I pulled away for breath. I reached down for the clicker, to switch it back to a normal channel.

"So that movie is usually one I _love_ to watch. Damn Brooke, you're such a distraction," he said with a smirk on his face. I knew he wasn't being serious, so I shot out my tongue at him.

"I didn't hear you complaining two seconds ago," I replied playfully.

"Hey, I wasn't complaining at _all_." He pulled me back to where I'd been sitting on the couch into an embrace with both of his arms this time. I melted back into his grip, and he held me close for what seemed like hours. He didn't really speak, the only thing I could hear was the dull lull of the TV channel.

The faint ringtone of his cellphone was what broke us apart. He sighed as I backed away from him so he could reach into the pocket of his jeans. Jay groaned as he pulled the phone out and held it to his ear.

"Mom…" He rolled his eyes and I slapped him, if my Mom bothered with me the way his did, I wouldn't be rolling my eyes. His free hand lifted mine that I'd slapped him with, and moved it back to the couch. Then his hand slid to my knee, and didn't leave it. I watched as he nodded and shook his head at the phone.

"Yes Mom, I know…..Yeah…..I think Will has it…..I don't know!" (I felt like slapping him again, he was getting agitated and all his Mom wanted to do was have a conversation) "No, I'm with Brooke right now….I know….Okay…..See you later." With that, he hung up the phone. "My Mom says hi." He laughed.

"And she wasn't even pissed that you're not in class?" I frowned.

"Will was always the one that didn't go to class, not me. When I said I was with you, she didn't seem to mind." I wonder what he meant, considering I hadn't heard him tell her what happened this morning whilst he'd been on the phone. I hoped Ashley didn't think I was just being a bad influence. "She did ask if I could call home though, you can come if you want?"

I thought about it for a minute, but decided not to go. Although I did still need to go back to school to get my car. I shook my head a little. "Could you drop me at school for my car though, is that okay?"

"Sure thing, Brooke. You gonna be okay going back?"

I nodded, school had been the furthest thing from my mind and I was only calling back for the car. I could come straight home again. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine. Thank you for taking my mind far from it." I stood from the couch and he followed me, we headed for the door again. I was kinda sad it was cut short, but there was no way I was gonna stop Jay from going home to his Mom. He followed me out of the house and I turned back to lock the outer door.

Jay drove us back to school and it looked quiet, people were still in classes. Or they'd gone home for the day. Whatever it was, I was super thankful that the outside was deserted. Jay killed the engine and turned to me. His hands went to cup my face.

I wanted to speak before he said anything. His hands were still on me when I pushed forward to kiss him bye. It wasn't as intense as the one in my house, but still I wanted to do it again.

"Thanks Jay, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely, I'll see you then. Bye Brooke."

I shut the door behind me, waving as he drove off. I wasn't in the mood to go back to class and there was only an hour left of the school day anyway so I walked briskly to my car. I started the engine and sped off out of the car park.

Once I was home, I threw myself on my bed. I was ready for the day to be over already, now that Jay had gone it was like the hours were dragging. I was seriously contemplating going to sleep.

I must have dropped off into a nap, but Peyton woke me. I hadn't expected to see her at all tonight, given she said she was going somewhere after school. But here she was, sitting on the end of my bed. I was slightly pissed she didn't wake me earlier, I had no idea how long she'd been sitting there.

"Peyton," I sat up on the bed and she smiled at me. "What are you doing here? I thought you were-"

"That's not important, Brooke! Not after what happened this morning, are you okay? Have you been by yourself all day?"

"No," I smiled out of one corner of my mouth. I didn't want to present her with the massive grin I felt on the inside, because then she would tease me. "Jay brought me home."

"Oh, he did?" She raised her eyebrows. "Did he stay here all day?"

"Most of it, he took me for fro-y before he brought me home."

Her jaw dropped slightly. "Are you freakin' kidding me? Where did you actually find this guy, did he come from a fucking movie? I'm jealous you crossed paths with him before me, B Davis. You hit lucky with this one."

"I'd like to think so, P Sawyer. How was school?"

"No, don't you go changing the subject! What did you guys do?"

I didn't exactly want to give her every detail of my day. "We watched a movie, as research for our assignment."

"Oh, is that what you're calling it? 'Research'" She emphasized. "Anything else?"

I knew what she wanted me to say. "We may have made out a few times. But that's-"

"But nothing! You skipped school and got to spend the day making out with him! Meanwhile I have double biology, an hour with the lab partner from hell and lunch break without my best friend!" I knew she was kidding though, she would understand why I didn't want to be there. "But are you feeling better Brooke, do I need to go in tomorrow and punch the hell out of Brad?"

"No, don't do that" I shook my head. "I don't want to make the situation any worse."

She turned her heel, walking in circles on the carpet of my bedroom. "You don't understand how mad I am, Brooke!" (I did actually, she was madder than me.) "I can't believe he thinks it's okay to do something like that, you deserve a whole lot better."

"I found a whole lot better, don't worry about me. I'm _fine_." And I was, I felt in a much better mood than I'd started off today.

"Okay, I'm glad to hear it. Now, birthday details. Are we still going to the club?" There was so much hope in her voice, I don't know what she would have done if I said no. I nodded my head and she almost jumped in delight. "Oh, great! When are we going to the mall then? I'll need a new outfit…"

I thought for a second. "We could go tonight? Or tomorrow, whenever is best for you."

"Yeah, tomorrow," she answered. "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun! I can't wait to go to the club with you."

* * *

She talked about the club _all_ week at school, I think she was more excited for my birthday than me. We did indeed go to the mall after school on Tuesday, and both found new outfits. I chose a dress and Peyton, of course, chose a shirt and jeans. It wasn't like she ever wore anything else.

School wasn't as bad as I expected, and I was super glad that I managed to avoid any run-in with Brad. There was only one class I shared with him, and luckily I'd missed it on Monday.

It got to Friday before I knew it, and Peyton came to my house to get ready. It took me longer than her, I wanted to look (and feel) good because it was nearly my birthday. Her dad was more concerned than my parents would ever be, she basically told him we were having a sleepover at mine.

"You've got your ID right?" I asked as we were about to leave the house. It was a little after 9pm and we had already started drinking while we were getting ready. That was one of the good things about absentee parents, they were never there but their alcohol always was.

"Brooke, that was the first thing I put in my purse," She shouted, even though there was no need for her to shout. I swore she better behave once we got to the doors of the club. We called a cab and it took us downtown- to where Tric was.

It was a Friday night and we were bound to know half of the people in there, but I prayed we wouldn't see any until we'd at least got inside. I didn't want to cause a scene, I just wanted to get inside and then we could have fun. The security didn't think twice about letting us in though, it was a busy night and they took one look at the pictures and let us in.

Peyton and I fought our way towards the bar area, and she ordered for us. I didn't get a chance to ask her what she'd picked but when she handed me the shot glass, the fumes alone were enough to make my eyes tear up. It was definitely going to be stronger than anything I'd tried at the house parties I'd been to.

I didn't want the effects of the alcohol I'd already drank to wear off, so my mouth dropped open and I upended that shot in one fell swoop.

I was tipsy, but I wasn't drunk enough not to feel the liquid. It burned my mouth like it was actually searing off the top layer of flesh as it travelled down my throat. If this was a _proper_ shot, I'd never had a shot before. Apparently I'd tried beer, wine, hard lemonade and a few jello shooters but never a hard-core shot of alcohol.

I almost immediately felt the effects of it. My head went a little light, woozy even and I relaxed. While me and Peyton had been at the bar, the crowds had piled into the room. There was a DJ in the corner, blasting music from his speakers. Instead of trying to blend it with the crowd, I wanted to become part of it. I grabbed Peyton's hand and dragged her towards the dancefloor.

We danced for a while, but the atmosphere was hot and sticky and I felt the need for another drink soon enough. Peyton seemed to appreciate that idea too, and she dragged me this time back towards the bar. She fought through arms of people so we could get a server quicker. I danced beside her, and then she presented me with a drink. I didn't know what it was, but as long as it was alcohol I didn't really care.

So I tasted it, the first gulp was difficult. The liquid burned my throat again, but nothing like what the shot had done to me. After the initial sip, the drink was tasty. I understood why this alcohol thing was so addictive.

Peyton and I were having a dance party when I felt a tap against my shoulder. I thought somebody had done it by accident but then they spoke, and I heard their voice over the music.

"Brooke Davis." I knew that I recognized the voice, but I couldn't place who it was. I spun myself to look where it had come from and immediately wished I hadn't.

The ugly but familiar face of Sam Carson, Brad's older brother, filled my view. Twice as tall, twice as ugly, twice as much of an ass-hole. If that was possible. I didn't say anything but I pulled a face and he continued.

"What's a girl like you doing in here?" He obviously knew my age, because I'd been around him many times but I had no idea why he thought it was okay to talk to me. I wondered if he knew how much of a jack-ass his little brother was.

"That's none of your business-" I swayed as I spoke, the drink Peyton had got for us was clearly entering my system. I turned to Peyton for back up, but she had her tongue down another guy's throat and I decided to leave her to it. I would be fine if I stood still. I took another sip of my drink, it was a better option than having to reply to Sam.

Sam extended his arms to steady me, before taking a step closer. Just the look in his eyes was enough to make me feel sick, let alone his _touch_. He grasped my upper arms in each of his hands, maybe I was swaying more than I thought?

He lowered his face to my ear and I could smell the beer on his breath, that's how I knew he was too close. I fought to back away from him, but apparently my strength disappeared when I was intoxicated. "What am I doing in here, you ask? Looking for a girl like you."

He made my skin crawl, he was even _worse_ than his brother. I tried to focus on my drink, but he kept coming into my view.

"You know, Brooke, I heard about you and my brother. Such a shame, I thought you were good for him. You deserve better than him," He finally released his grip on my arms, but my skin still burned from where he'd pressed himself on my arms. "Your drink is looking pretty empty, what are you drinking?"

I shook my head in an effort to get him to leave. I looked back at Peyton again, but she was still lost in this new guy she'd met. _So much for having my back_.

I knew Sam would be here with his friends so I tried to scan the room for a sighting of them. It was dark though, and the dancefloor was the only bit of the room that was illuminated. Some guy walked through the crowds with a tray of shots, and I decided to buy one: if anything, it would give me more time that I wouldn't have to talk to Sam. I tilted the drink, closed my eyes and opened my mouth. I was careful not to inhale while I downed the shot, if it was anything like the first I'd tried, I wouldn't be able to handle it.

This one didn't sting my throat as badly as the last one, but the effects were almost as immediate. The room felt like it had suddenly started to spin. Fast. I opened and closed my eyes quickly, remembering where I was. I thought maybe me focusing so badly on my drink that Sam would back away.

He didn't. He stepped close again, this time with all of his body. His hands attempted to grab for my waist, but I swatted away with my free hand. The one on the side where I was holding my drink managed to reach his destination, and I twisted my body trying to break free from his touch. It made me want to die.

"I didn't know you were so into this club and alcohol, Brooke," His slimy tones made me want to be anywhere else but here. I'd come here for a good night for my birthday and he was managing to spoil everything. "I'm glad I could around to experience that. I always thought you were a quiet girl, when you were around at our place."

I twisted and turned out of Sam's grasp, grabbing Peyton- no matter how much she was going to hate me for breaking her and that guy apart- and headed towards the dancefloor again. I needed to be as far away from him as possible, and hopefully being surrounded by so many people would mean he couldn't find me. I started to move to the beat of the music, and Peyton started swaying too. I think she was more wasted than me, she was still holding her drink but not taking any sips from it. My glass was soon empty and I took hers, it tasted completely different to mine. Stronger. I figured one of the guys at the bar had bought it for her. By the end of her drink, I was no longer dancing. More like teetering. Peyton and I staggered back to the bar, maybe I could find her a seat. I was totally wasted but I still had the energy to dance. When we found the corner of the bar, much to my dismay, Sam was still standing there.

I thought he would have spent his time trying to chat up other girls, but no. As soon as he clocked eyes on me, he came over.

"Damn Brooke," He moved to place a hand over my own but I managed to move mine away before he got the chance. "Now that you're off the dancefloor, I wouldn't mind you moving against me like that."

I didn't look at him and I shook my head. The entire room was becoming a blur. I was drunk, _long_ past that word. I was standing next to Peyton (I found her a stool, and she needed it. Before she fell over.) Sam moved to stand beside me, his hands attempting to slide around my ass. I wanted to retch as I felt his bulging pants against me. But I was trapped between him and Peyton, so I figured there was little I could do.

"I could make it so you'll be screaming my name tonight. You'll be begging, I can guarantee it."

I had no idea what gave him the right to speak to me the way he was. I figured I was drunk, but still able to recognize that asshole jerk who was trying to hit on me. It wasn't going to work and quite frankly, I could _not_ think of anything worse. I pushed him away.

It didn't work.

"The only thing I'm begging you for is to let me go," I hated myself for talking so much to him, but it was the one thing I could do. I shoved him again but he only stepped closer. Now I was _really_ trapped between his body and the stool.

"No one would have to know, Brooke. Brad would never have to know, it could be our secret."

It didn't matter how much I had to drink, I could _never_ get drunk enough to go remotely close to Sam Carson. Not ever in this lifetime or the next.

"Let. Me. _Go._ " I pushed again.

It was no use, he only laughed. What was worse, the bar was still pretty full and no-one around us knew what was going on. No-one realized I could use a hand right now. Peyton was no use whatsoever, she was practically falling asleep in the stool I'd found.

Sam laughed. "I'm not letting you go until you say you'll get naked and horizontal."

Woah. What he was saying was wrong on _so_ many levels. Alcohol or not, there was literally no excuse for what he was saying. It wasn't even the fact I'd dated his brother, he was just being an absolute sleaze ball.

I was too busy trying to ignore his advances that I didn't notice a hand tap against Sam's shoulder. I only noticed when he turned away and I finally found air around me again.

"Change of plans," I recognized the voice but there was a tone to it that I'd never heard before. The voice sounded incredibly angry, as though somebody was about to feel the wrath.

Sam backed away further, scoffed rather audibly and replied. "Get lost, man. Find your own chick."

"I'll give you one more opportunity to back away," Jay position himself between Sam and I, his hand closest to mine holding my palm protectively in his hold.

Sam apparently didn't feel threatened. "Dude, I'm not going anywhere."

Jay dropped his hand suddenly from my own and for a second, time slowed in front of my eyes. It was like I watched it unfold in slow motion.

Jay threw the first punch before Sam knew what was coming. The powerful connection of Jay's first with Sam's lower jaw was more than enough to make him back away from me.

"What the hell man?" Sam spoke through gritted teeth, his eyes darting between Jay and myself. I didn't believe what had just happened either.

"I told you, back away." Jay went to throw another, but Sam backed off. I think he almost threw his hands up in surrender, but saved himself the embarrassment. He stumbled back into the crowd.

At first, I was too stunned to speak and I didn't have a clue what to say or how to feel. Without me realizing, my breathing had picked up as I watched the squaring up match unfold in front of me. I knew this definitely wasn't the type of person Jay was, but I also got the impression that he would do what he needed to do to protect me. And I was so damn thankful that he did. And that he'd turned up when he had.

Jay turned around and his anxious eyes fell on me. His eyes managed to illicit the same kinds of responses as when I was sober. He closed the little gap between us and wrapped both arms around me. I was quite surprised that I wasn't dreaming.

"Jay?" I reached out to touch his face.

"Brooke." Both of his hands moved to cup my face and he stared at me. I'm pretty sure it was the most intense look I've ever seen.

"What are you doing here?" I asked quietly, but I was pretty sure I slurred half of the words.

"I came to get you. Where's Pey-" He stopped himself as he saw her slouched in the chair. Jay removed his hands from my face and picked Peyton up from where she was seated. She stirred a little when he lifted her, but there was little more interaction. I had _no_ idea how she was so wasted, we'd started drinking at the same time. Suddenly compared to her, I felt more than sober. Even though I probably wasn't. I watched as Jay led Peyton from the building and followed close behind. Though I knew she needed to be accompanied to wherever Jay was taking us, I couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. I wrapped my arms around myself as I watched Jay put Peyton into the back seat of his car.

Before he got in the car, Jay looked back at me. I was a couple of meters behind them so he rushed over to catch up with me. I stumbled, trying to ignore his grip.

"I'm _fine_." I told him as I walked to my side of the car. I managed to get into the car without help from him and once I was seated, I reached for my head. It was already starting to hurt, and I knew I was gonna feel much worse than I had after the house party. It wasn't a good sign for tomorrow morning.

I spent most of the car journey with my head against the window and I must have nodded off when he came to a sudden stop. He was outside of Peyton's house.

"Brooke, can you help me get Peyton inside?" His tone was stern, almost as though he was telling me what to do.

I didn't reply, but got out of the car and watched as Jay helped Peyton out of it. Watched as his hands were firm around her waist, then held one of her hands as he guided her to the front of the house. It was like he didn't even need my help, why did he make me get out of the car?

I knew where Peyton and her dad kept their spare key, so I reached for it and opened the door. Hopefully her dad would be a heavy sleeper and wouldn't hear us come in. I watched more as Jay struggled up the stairs with her, Peyton banging into the walls and stumbling the steps. I followed behind them, Oh looking on as Jay led Peyton to her bed and lay her on the mattress. He stood quickly and Peyton rolled onto her side.

"Should we change her?" He asked quietly, turning towards me.

 _Oh so he did remember I existed._ I shrugged, knowing she needed to be rid of her clothes but it would be too much of a struggle given her state. I settled for removing her shoes and I pulled the comforter over her. I hadn't even left the room when I heard her soft snores.

Jay spoke when we'd left the house. "I should have known something was up when you didn't answer your cell."

I pretended not to hear him. I figured after tonight, I wasn't going to go crazy with alcohol again.

Now we were outside, I took a deep breath of the cool night air. It cleared my mind a little, making it easier to believe that I wasn't about to vomit my gut everywhere in front of me. I felt a sudden wave of tiredness that swayed me towards Jay.

"Shit Brooke. How much did you have to drink?" Jay sighed before throwing an arm around my body. Before I knew it, he was practically carrying me back to the Jeep.

It felt like it wasn't the same way he'd held onto Peyton. "Not enough," I whispered. It was under my breath but he heard.

He chuckled, finding something funny. "I think you've had more than enough." The grip around me got tighter. He watched as my eyes wandered around the sky. "Did you want me to call your parents Brooke?"

I laughed, it was so over the top, like a proper cackle. "Good luck with that one, you'd have to locate them first."

Jay guided me round to the passenger side of his car. "What are you talking about?"

I hated myself for saying something because now I'd opened up a can of worms. "I don't know where they are." I swung my legs into the front. "I never know where they are."

He leaned against the open door frame. "So there's nobody in your house right now?"

"There's the house-keeper. I'll be fine. Just take me home." I swung the rest of my body to sit in the seat and face the front window.

"No." Jay pushed his body forward to where I was sitting, dangerously close to my personal space. The impact and firmness of his body against mine brought a sound to the surface from me. "Let's get one thing straight, Brooke." His head dropped to my beck and the next thing I felt was his mouth warming the skin at the base of it. His lips left the gentlest press on my neck, even with the smallest sense of intimacy, my eyes closed and I moaned again. "You're not going home tonight."

Leaning back, his body left mine and he shut the door on my side. I was alone in the car for a minute as he ran to the other side.

I felt Jay's eyes on me for the longest time. I wasn't sure what he was seeing or looking for, but a least a few minutes must have gone by before he sighed. "You're coming home with me."

I hated that such a wave of relief flooded me. At least for tonight, Jay would take care of me. I looked out of the window most of the journey home. He didn't make any effort to try and talk to me, he probably knew how I was feeling.

We pulled up to Jay's home and I struggled to find the urge to move my head from the position I was sitting. He killed the engine and was silent for a minute before he spoke. "Promise me one thing, Brooke?" I listened as he removed the key from the ignition and I felt rude not looking at him whilst he was talking so I willed my body to move. He was already looking at me when I moved to look at him.

My quiet response made him continue.

"Promise me you won't do something like that again. Going to the club is fine, I don't want to stop you doing something you like to do. But if I hadn't called you, and remembered where you were going… Who knows what-" Jay's face was grave and even in the darkness I could sense his facial expression. "There's no shortage of guys like that dude around here, even though I've only been here a matter of weeks I've noticed that. I can't promise that I'll always be there in that situation to stop-"

I swallowed, he kind of had a point although I wasn't sure what right he had to tell me himself. "I promise," That made his face soften and he jumped from the car, opening my door for me. He reached behind to grab my hand and I followed him into the quiet of his house.

The building was so damn quiet. I figured either everybody was out, or Will had returned to his college dorm and it was just Jay and his Mom.

"Come on," Jay whispered, his fingers stroking over my own. "Let's get you to bed."

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	9. Chapter 9

Jay guided us towards the wall, the wall where I knew his bedroom door was. By the time we reached it, all of my weight was practically on him. He opened it and broke our embrace apart for a second.

"Wait here, I'll be right back. Try not to fall over and _hurt_ yourself." When he'd steadied my balance and seemed satisfied that I was able to stand, he practically jogged across the hallway.

I leaned my head against the doorframe, wondering what he was doing. I thought about going to his bedroom and waiting for him there, but I didn't want to attempt the stairs without him. Knowing my luck I'd misplace my foot and end up on a heap in the floor. And that wouldn't be attractive to him _at all_.

I kicked off my shoes while I was waiting for him, the left first then the right. My bare feet felt cold against the wooden floor of his hallway. I made sure the shoes weren't going to be an obstacle and put them against the wall.

Jay came back to where I stood in a matter of minutes and I didn't ask where he'd disappeared to. Not that I didn't want to know, I just had the overwhelming urge to get downstairs. I felt faint on my feet and needed to sit down, or something. He grabbed a firm hold of my hand and led me down the stairs to his bedroom.

He made it look easy, leading a pretty drunk and unsteady girl down a set of stairs. I felt my feet sink into the carpet of the room before I knew it.

Jay stopped inches away from his bed, walking towards the closet and pulling out a T-shirt of his.

"Here," he smiled. "I can't imagine that dress would be very comfortable to sleep in." Then he backed away around the corner, I took it as a sign to get changed.

As I let my dress fall from my body, all I could thing about was crawling into Jay's bed and falling asleep. My night had been fun (well, most of it) but now I kinda felt exhausted. A good night's sleep between Jay's sheets sounded like a good way to end the day.

My fingers were funny and not working properly, so it took me longer than it should have to pull the material of his T-shirt over my body. I'd just managed to get it over my head-

"You need to drink both of these and take these pills before you get into that bed, unless you want to wake…" Jay came from around the corner, shaking a pill bottle and holding two bottles of water. He looked up as he was speaking, his eyes falling to my stomach just after I'd pulled the T-shirt over my chest. His mouth fell open a little and he stood still.

I glanced down at myself. Maybe I should have crawled into bed before he came back to this side of the room. My lace underwear, and the fact his T-shirt did _nothing_ to hide the hardness of my nipples made it look like I was wearing lingerie rather than sleepwear.

Jay's eyes wandered down me, taking their time, and had made a return journey before he unfroze himself from where he stood. Sure, guys had looked at me before but never this way. When I'd been checked out by other guys, it made me feel as though I was being gawked at. Now though, his gaze was far from that. I almost felt as though his eyes were worshipping my body. When he got nearer to me, his eyes shot away from me, as if he shouldn't have been looking.

"Take these and drink this," Jay held out his hand and waited for me to open mine. When I did, he dropped two white pills into it before unscrewing the cap of one bottle of water. He reached to switch on his bedside lamp.

He wasn't looking at me anymore, but that took significant restraint. I wasn't sure if it was because of what he'd saw me like in the club tonight, or whether it was because he'd practically just saw my naked body. I could see though that he _did_ want to look at me. He wanted me, and I prayed he wanted me just as much as I wanted him. I could see it in his face, I could tell from the way his chest was lifting and falling, harder and faster. And even though his bedroom was quite dark, I could see it under the zipper of his jeans. He _wanted_ me.

Knowing Jay was ready for me in every way a guy could be made me want to respond everyway a girl would. Whilst I kinda wanted to throw myself at him, I forced myself to swallow the pills first. Jay handed me the bottle and I lifted it to my lips. Then I could feel his eyes on me again as I kept the bottle tilted. I didn't bring it back down again until I'd drank all of it.

When I brought my head back down, I knew what I had thought had been right. His eyes were on me again. Even if he was about to try and hide it, his pupils were dilated and he was looking intensely. The insides of my thighs clenched together.

I felt like I was ready as I could be, for him. In every way possible.

"Jay," I whispered, stepping closer towards him, there was only a tiny gap between us.

His eyes clamped shut and he took a tiny step back. "No," he replied. "Brooke, you have no idea how much I want this, but you're wasted. And I can't promise you won't regret it in the morning."

I almost whimpered in dismay, I'd wanted him before but this was _different_. I'd closed myself off before, and now I felt more than ready. This was different because it was all consuming, and all I could think about. I craved the feeling of him inside me. I wanted him to be the first guy I felt like this. And I know I'd known him a matter of weeks but I was sure of it: the other guys that had been in my life had _nothing_ on Jay Halstead.

It was a lot for me to take in, that my body was feeling this way. Especially when I'd had far too many drinks. I wasn't surprised by my reaction though.

I could already feel the water I'd downed working its way through my system, clearing me free from alcohol.

Jay continued. "Look, we should get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning," He hung his hands on his hips, nodding towards the bed that was just behind my knees.

I tried not to look disappointed, turning towards the bed. I pulled back Jay's comforter and lowered myself onto the mattress. I heard him laugh a little before I lowered my head to the pillows. Jay's sheets smelled exactly like him. His scent was a turn on anyway, but tonight it was serving as an aphrodisiac. _I was in trouble._

I heard the sound of a zipper, knowing that he was stripping himself of clothes. I leant on my side to watch, the dim light proving very useful to me. Jay was stepping out of his jeans and tugging off his shirt. My throat went dry, even given the huge amount of water Jay had just made me drink.

The edge of the bed dipped and Jay sat on the end of it. He'd undressed down to his pants.

There was _no_ way I'd be able to sleep next to a nearly naked Jay and just _sleep_. Since sleep would be impossible, the only other way to share a bed with Jay would have to work.

I wasn't taking any more "no's" from him. I wanted him, I needed him. If what he said was true, and he wanted me as much as I wanted him… things were about to get real interesting.

I sat up on my knees, and willed my body forwards toward him. Jay turned his head towards me with a bit of confusion. Likely because of what I was doing: narrowing my eyes at him and playing with the hem of his shirt. I tugged at the material, scrunching it beneath my fist so it revealed the skin of my stomach, and my underwear.

"Brooke," he warned.

I smiled at him before pulling the T-shirt over my head and threw it at him. "Jay."

He grabbed his T-shirt before it fell to the floor. Jay's eyes widened. With his eyes on them, my nipples hardened even more.

"I want you, Jay." I said.

His forehead creased as his breathing resorted to shallow gasps. "I want you, Brooke but-"

My fingers slid under the hem of my panties and I tugged them down to my knees. I'd never done this before, but I wasn't exactly an angel. My thumb skimmed over the part of me that was now throbbing, and a low noise erupted from my throat.

Jay groaned. "Shit," he breathed, clamping his eyes shut again. This time though, they were only shut for a second and soon they were open, focused on my body. I watched as he fought with himself but it wasn't going to work, because I'd tried that too but neither of us were going to win.

What was about to happen had been inevitable, even from the moment I'd set eyes on his in lab. It was _inescapable._

"I want you," I repeated.

"Damn it Brooke…" He sounded just as undecided as his expression looked.

I kissed him quickly, pulling myself away before he got into it so I knew he'd want more. Then I lay back on the mattress, adjusting my knees from beneath me. He was still staring as I slid my panties the rest of the way down my body. I spread my legs before dropping my knees to either side. My body was so turned on and ready for him, I could feel my wetness dampening the sheet beneath me.

"Jay," His name was the only thing I could manage.

He sucked a sudden breath through his teeth and after a few moments the lines on his face faded. They were replaced with creases of what I think was _desire_.

"Fuck Brooke, you have no idea what you do to me," Jay said, before crawling up the bed towards me.

My breathing was coming so hard I felt like I could have heart palpitations. I guessed the adrenaline that tore through my body was doing a hell of a job burning off the remaining alcohol in my system. In a way, I was glad. I wanted to feel every last touch of this. Every time he caressed me.

Within seconds his face was hovering above mine. He groaned when I repeated his name, as though he was more ready than I already was.

"I want you so much Brooke," His teeth sunk into my earlobe and he whispered. "And I'm done with not doing anything about it."

I rolled my head back and arched my neck to him. His mouth moved there and as his tongue started glided up it, my hands moved lower down his chest. It was a body I'd become familiar with, but suddenly it felt like I was exploring completely new crevices of his body. My thumbs hooked under his boxers and I slid them down his body until everything I wanted freed was nestled hard into my stomach.

My fingers curled around his length and I stroked down him. His tongue stopped its journey for a second, I think I took him by surprise.

"I want you inside of me," I said, guiding him closer. "Please don't make me wait any longer." I was well aware that I was pleading, but right now I didn't care.

I lifted my hips to meet him, just as his tip slid against my wetness he pulled away from me.

I sat up on my elbows and pleaded with my eyes. Jay was kneeling between my legs, his breathing was heavy. "Jay? What's wrong?"

"You're a virgin Brooke," he winced as he said it. "This isn't going to be a pleasurable experience for you and I don't want to hurt you."

"You don't want me?" It hurt to even think it. I tried not to sound as insecure as I suddenly felt.

Jay's eyes widened and he looked at me. "I want to have you so bad I'm about to come just thinking about being inside you."

Heat raged through me as yet another surge of wetness trailed down me. "Jay. Have me, _please._ " My fingers ran down to my opening, knowing if I touched myself he would do something about it.

Jay's tongue travelled the line of his lips as he watched me. His upper teeth bit down hard once his tongue had finished its path. "Shit," he breathed out heavily before dropping one of his hands to where my fingers were. His finger tangled with mine as it stroked me on the outside.

I pulled my own hand away and sighed his name. Apparently I couldn't keep it from my lips. I flexed my hips into his hand.

"I can't… I don't want to come that way," I managed through tormented breaths. I pushed his hand gently away from me. "I want to come with you inside of me."

Jay's hand lowered and I felt as his fingers circled my opening. His brows came together. "You're so wet," he said, and then his finger slipped inside of me.

I inhaled sharply as he slid it in deeper. I thought I'd done something like this before, but it had _never_ felt this good.

"You're so tight, Brooke" he said, his whole face showing me concern. "I don't even know if I'll fit a second finger in you, let alone my _dick_."

Well _duh._ Nobody had ever explored this territory before. And I wanted him to be the first. I _needed_ him to be the first.

Hearing him talk about it though made me think about it. Another noise left my throat and I felt myself relax around him. Another finger slid inside.

"Yes Brooke," he spoke as I rocked against his fingers. "Yes, _baby._ "

He was right, I felt a little bit of pain but it was nothing compared to the pleasure of feeling his fingers touching places inside of me.

"I wanna feel you, Jay. I want to feel you inside of me." I had no idea where this voice was coming from, who this girl was but I think I liked her.

A low moan came out of him as I spoke. He was lowering himself over me again.

I smiled at the face that was lingering inches from mine.

Jay's hand slipped underneath the mattress and he fumbled for a minute before pulling out a square plastic package. I arched my brow in anticipation as I waited for him. He rolled the condom into place before smirking and then kissing me, like he was tasting the flavour of my mouth.

"I'm gonna try really damn hard not to hurt you Brooke, okay?" I felt the tip of him press against me. My head threw itself back again, it felt so good. "Tell me if I hurt you and I'll… I'll back away."

"You will do no such thing," I raised my hips against him. "I want this." I wrapped both my arms and legs around him.

Jay nodded as he took in my words. I wondered if he was gonna listen. He groaned, and then his hips rocked against mine. He stretched me wide as he slowly slid inside me.

I whimpered, digging my nails into his back.

"Does it hurt?" Jay's voice was low and his hips had stopped their moment.

"No," I breathed. "It feels so damn good." Since he'd slowed his movement and wasn't moving fast enough for me, I slid my hands down to his bare ass. Grabbing hold of him, I pressed him hard against me. Jay glided the rest of himself inside me.

I cried out in pain. In pleasure. In _pure_ ecstasy. (I also prayed to God that Jay's walls were soundproof, because this would be severely awkward in the morning…)

Jay was buried all the way inside me, he couldn't go any deeper. I felt myself stretch and relax around him, wishing there was more than him. I couldn't get enough and my release was unbelievably close.

He was breathing heavier than I'd ever heard him breathe before. I felt him swelling inside of me.

"Make me come, Jay," I breathed, wanting him to move inside me like his fingers just had.

"Give me a sec, Brooke." He panted, just outside my ear. "I'm trying to keep myself from coming right now." His panting was audible right beside the side of my face. "Brooke, I want this to be perfect for you. I want to feel you come around me, before I do."

"I'm so close," I said, sinking my teeth into his shoulder, knowing that if I didn't I would cry out. And I couldn't guarantee how quiet that would be, because I'd never felt like this before. "If you continue just a few more seconds, you're going to make me-"

"You keep up the dirty talk, and I'm going to be right behind you," he said, sliding out of me to the point that I groaned in protest.

"Again," I begged, pressing my hips into him. Trying to take him back inside. "Harder."

Jay groaned and then thrust hard and deep inside once more.

"Yes!" I cried, digging hard into his back, encouraging him to go faster. "Oh my _God,_ " I breathed, or tried my best to.

Jay started moving fast and hard, he looked incapable of holding himself back now. "You're so _tight_ , it feels so good."

I felt the spiralling out of control feeling approaching me quickly. All I could do was grip hold of the sheets as he rocked harder inside of me. The whole bed shook and I could feel my orgasm about to roll through my body.

"Say my name again," he hissed, pulling out of me. "I wanna hear you say it."

I wanted to whimper from the separation. " _Jayyyy_ " I repeated, lifting my hips higher, wanting him so badly that I could feel myself pulsing with desire.

His eyes locked with my own, it was an even more intense look than the ones he usually gave me.

"Oh yes, oh God," I panted as Jay continued his rhythm.

"You," he groaned, sliding back inside. "Are," he breathed, sliding back. " _Incredible_." The noises erupting from his throat were even louder than mine, and he thrust so deep inside of me that it sent me over the edge.

My entire body convulsed around him and I screamed his name so many times that it became a prayer on my lips.

Jay came seconds after me and pumped so fast inside me that I almost came a second time. His body fell down on me and relaxed, except his dick which stayed hard and deep inside of me.

"Shit, Brooke Davis." From the breath he exhaled, it sounded like he'd been holding it. One of his hands caressed the side of my face, something felt wet and I didn't know whether it was perspiration from myself, or from him. It could have been from either one of us as we lay in a tangled mess on Jay's bed. "You're amazing."

I felt the cool air hit my body all of a sudden when he rolled off me. I was slightly disappointed when he did so, but I knew he wasn't going anywhere.

Jay lay on his side, still panting heavily as he looked at me. I turned my body sideways so I could look at him too. I couldn't read the look on his face, but the extensive grin on his lips essentially told me how he was feeling. His smile displayed how I was feeling, too.

I raised one of my hands towards his face, my index finger tracing circles on his cheek.

"Now I know why I waited," My words were sober words now, there was definitely no liquor left in my system. And for the most part, that fact made me happy. I'd always wanted to remember my first time, and wanted it to be memorable and I _definitely_ had both.

His lips spread even wider and he reached across me, disregarding his used latex into the trashcan and then pulling me close. It wasn't like we needed the sheets, but Jay pulled them across our bodies anyway; the cool material of his comforter felt good against my still-on-fire skin.

Jay's arms pulled me close to his torso, and I nestled against the bare skin of his chest. We lay quietly for a few moments, until our breathing dropped to a normal and steadier rate.

His fingers gently tickled the skin of my stomach as we were lying there. From the way I was feeling, his touch alone was nearly enough to send me over the edge again. I gasped as his digits neared my navel.

Jay laughed before dropping his mouth to my forehead and kissing it. I felt bad for having my back to him so soon after we'd been extremely intimate but I was so damn comfortable. My own mouth spread into a soft smile.

I felt Jay move away from my body for a second. He unlocked his embrace around me and shuffled further up the pillows. He stretched beyond my head, turning off his bedside light and pressing random buttons on his alarm clock. I figured he was turning off his alarm clock or something, but the bright digits still shone from the screen.

When he came back to me, he planted a kiss in my hair before returning his arms to their resting place around my waist.

"By the way Brooke," He spoke into the darkness. "Happy Birthday."

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	10. Chapter 10

There was nothing quite like waking up to a tangle of sheets that smelled like Jay while his fingers tickled down my spine.

"Hi," I greeted, opening my eyes and turning over to face him.

"Good morning," he replied, grinning at me. He was on his side, propped up on his elbow and still _naked._ Well, I guessed he was- the sheets covered the area south of his navel.

"How long have you been awake?" I took in the sight of him when I turned. I didn't even think of that fact I probably had morning breath, bad bed hair and a hundred missed calls on my cell, everything else was far from my mind. The only thing I _was_ thinking about was the hot beyond mind-blowing sex we'd shared last night.

I was gonna be in the moment and enjoy it.

"Not long," Jay replied, his hand he wasn't leaning on sliding a bit of my hair behind my ear. "I can't remember the last time I slept _that_ good."

I lifted my eyebrow. "Yeah, I wonder why…"

Jay laughed. "Well there's certainly _that_. But I swear I could feel you next to me even in my sleep." His mouth dropped to my forehead and kissed it.

His touch made my insides tingle.

"How are you feeling this morning, Brooke?" He asked, an apprehensive expression on his face. I wasn't sure which part of me he was referring to, because he could be asking about a looming hangover or…

"Great," I replied. "That whole painkiller and water chugging thing words miracles when you don't want a hangover."

He laughed. "I'm glad to know your head isn't throbbing, but what about your…" His eyes scanned the area between my legs. "I tried to be gentle with you, but as soon as I got inside of you… I don't know, I lost control. I'm sorry," his laughter disappeared and there was concern in his eyes. "Are you hurting?"

I fumbled slightly with myself. _Nope, nothing hurting there_.

"Jay," I said, letting one of my hands trace patterns on his bare torso. "Last night was amazing. You weren't exactly gentle with me, but I wanted it just the way we did it. I didn't really want gentle. I'm not hurt, not even a little bit so maybe we could…" It was my turn to raise my eyebrows again.

His smile curved wickedly. "I am all for that brilliant idea, but I told you I have plans." He looked away and checked the numbers on his digital clock. "And we are not spending your birthday in bed."

I grinned, he was probably right. I'd just had sex for the first time less than eight hours go, I probably wasn't ready to do it again. But as Jay shuffled further towards me on the mattress, all my reservations went up in flames.

I pulled his face towards mine and traced the line of his bottom lip with my tongue. He got into it after a few seconds, his palms cupping at my jaw and I ran my hands down the muscles of his stomach.

He rolled over and pulled me on top of him, our bare bodies tangling together again.

Then, much too quick for my liking, his hands moved away from my face and he groaned. "Damn Brooke, if you don't stop that we're never going to get out of this bed," He laughed against my mouth. "And I told you, I have _plans_." He emphasized the last word and pulled himself from underneath me.

The comforter was still pulled to my waist, and I propped on an elbow to look as he got out of the bed.

"Don't look at me like that," he groaned.

"Like what?" I chewed my lip. I didn't even realize I'd been looking at him in a particular way…

"Like you don't want me to get out of bed," he leaned forward and pressed a kiss against my lips. "I'm going to shower, I'll be back soon."

I nodded my response and watched as he walked from the room, not even bothering to cover himself with clothes. That's when I remembered the bathroom he was using was actually down here, because this space was practically an apartment itself.

I pushed myself up and wrapped myself in the comforter. I reached down to the bottom of the bed, looking for my purse (and very much not remembering where the hell I'd put it last night). It was at the other end of Jay's bed so I pulled it towards myself and checked my cell.

There wasn't anybody I'd rather be spending my birthday with, but I wanted to make sure Peyton was okay. Last night, I was drunk but Peyton was _wasted._ I'd never seen her like that before, the only other time she was near that level of drunk was the bonfire party. My best friend was a liability when it came to alcohol.

She'd text me. It was this morning, not the drunk text I'd expected to receive. But then my mind went back to last night, where she'd not been able to stand on her own feet and Jay had put her to bed.

 _What the hell happened last night? How did we get home? I'm never drinking that much again._

And then two minutes later,

 _Happy Birthday best friend! Are you hanging with your boyfriend today? That's totally cool if you are, I'll see you later or tomorrow! Anyway, call or text me to let me know!_

I laughed at her message, typed out a reply. Tried to answer all of her questions in it.

 _Hey P. Sawyer thank you! Me and Jay brought you home, can't believe you don't remember! Hanging with Jay today, although I have no idea what we're doing… He hasn't told me. Btw, not my boyfriend! See you later x_

I shoved my phone back into my purse just as Jay came back into the room. He walked towards his closet and pulled out a towel, throwing it in my direction.

"I left the shower running for you," he smiled. I watched for a second as the water dripped slowly from his body onto the carpet.

 _Damn_. I climbed free from the mattress and wrapped the towel around myself. I went into Jay's bathroom and stepped straight into the shower. He'd left it on a fairly hot temperature for me, but from the way I was feeling I needed a _cold_ one. I turned the switch, gasping slightly as the cold water came into contact with my skin.

The water felt insanely good as it ran the length of my body. I pressed my hands against the tiles and let the shower cleanse my skin and my hair. I turned it off when I was done and stepped free, walking back into Jay's bedroom wrapped in the towel.

It suddenly occurred to me that the only clothes I had with me was the dress I had on last night. And I also had to locate my panties that Jay had flung across the room last night.

They were waiting for me on the bed though, Jay having tidied his comforter and put my clothes on top of it. He'd put clothes on and was lounging on the opposite side of the bed. His hands were behind his head, and he was looking through his phone.

I grabbed my underwear and dressed myself in them, then slipped into my dress.

"Brooke, Mom probably made breakfast. Did you want a sweater or something to go over the dress?" He grinned, and I nodded. I knew the dress was pretty low cut, and it wouldn't be the best attire to wear if I was gonna see Ashley this morning.

He jumped from the bed and ran back to the closet, reaching into one of the drawers and pulling out a hooded sweater. "Here," he walked back over to me and pulled it on over my head. "Are you hungry?"

I nodded again, who wouldn't be hungry after that crazy insane work-out we'd done last night?

Jay grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs, towards the kitchen. There was music coming from the kitchen so I knew Jay's Mom was already in there. I could also smell breakfast cooking, which made my stomach grumble.

"Morning, Mom." Jay spoke, pulling me into the kitchen after him.

"Oh hey, there you are? What are you-" She spun, her eyes growing wider as she saw me. "Oh hey Brooke! I didn't know you were staying over."

 _That answered my question as to whether she'd heard us and she hadn't, thank GOD_.

"Hi Ashley," I waved.

I'd noticed before that Jay's Mom was pretty, but I'd never expected her to look so good especially in the morning. She was still dressed in a bath robe and she managed to look flawless.

She glanced down at our joined hands, but didn't say anything. I got the feeling she was one of those "Are you guys hungry? I made breakfast because Will said he was coming home this morning but alas, he's not _here_."

Jay walked me to the kitchen chairs and took the plates of food from his Mom.

"Thanks Mom, this looks great." Jay said as he took the seat next to me.

"Well it's gonna go to waste otherwise. What are you kids up to today?" Ashley turned from the stove and sat at the opposite side of the counter.

"It's Brooke's birthday," he said between mouthfuls.

Ashley's eyes grew wide. "Oh, happy birthday Brooke!" She ran from the other side to hug me, and I wasn't that surprised because I remember Jay telling me she was a hugger. "Wait, is this why you wanted the key for-"

"Hey _Mom_." Jay raised his eyebrows and spoke through gritted teeth. Ashley seemed to take his hint and shut her mouth quickly.

"Oh, ohhh. I'm just, uh, gonna take a shower. I'll see you guys in a little while," Ashley smiled and wandered out of the kitchen.

I frowned at Jay. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Jay grinned. "My mom just has a big mouth."

I figured she was about to say something about whatever Jay had planned for today. Which I still had no clue about.

"So Brooke," he finished the last of his food and turned towards me. "I love I mean I _love_ the sight of you in this dress, but I don't think it's the most practical outfit for what I've got planned for today. We should swing by your place and you can get changed?"

He made me laugh, of course I didn't want to spend the day in last night's dress either. "That sounds like a good idea," I nodded. "Although I have no idea what's happening today, what should I change into?"

"We can cross that bridge when we get to your place," he smiled. "Did you leave anything in my bedroom?"

"My purse," I replied. "I think my shoes are up here."

"They are," he grinned, obviously remembering where I'd taken them off last night. "I'll grab your purse, pick up my stuff that I need and then we can go?"

"Sure," I smiled as he stood from his stool and brushed his lips against my temple.

"I'll be right back," then he ran across the hall and back down to his bedroom.

I wandered through the hallway myself, vaguely remembering where I'd taken off my shoes. I spotted them but then remembered they were high and I couldn't walk in them right now, so placed them under my arm. I waited for Jay in the corridor that led to the door of his house.

He appeared from his room soon after with my purse, and a large rucksack of his. Where the hell were we going for him to need a rucksack? And I couldn't even decipher any clues from what he was wearing, he had a shirt and jeans on with a pair of sneaker so it was giving me mixed signals. I didn't have the faintest idea what he had planned.

Jay left the house first and I followed him. He gave me my purse then threw his bag into the back of his Jeep. I climbed into the passenger side and shut the door behind me.

It took him just a little time to reach the outside of my house and he pulled up onto the driveway. It was the weekend (and my birthday) so I wasn't surprised to see a car that wasn't mine on the driveway. Just my luck, Mom was home.

I pulled a face before we got out of the car.

"My Mom's home," I said with no emotion at all, because that was how I felt about my mother. The one time she was home it was _my_ day and I didn't particularly want to see her.

I hadn't gone into detail with Jay about my strained relationship with my parents, but I think he gathered how I felt from the way I spoke about her. She hadn't been there for the majority of my life, and she wasn't about to start now.

Jay looked slightly worried when I spoke. "She isn't going to want you to stay home, is she? Because we could totally rearrange this if-"

I silenced his words with my finger. "I've never spent my birthday with either of my parents. I don't think that's about to change." I sighed.

"Did you want me to come in? Or should I wait for you here?"

I thought about it, he could tell me what I needed to pack for wherever we were going, but coming inside meant he'd be faced with the bitch that was Victoria Davis. I shrugged, but I knew there wasn't confidence in my tone. "It's up to you," I said.

He undid his seatbelt and began to open the car door. _Thank God_.

Jay followed me to the front door and I turned my key in the lock. Straight away, voices travelled from the kitchen. Mom's voice and a man's voice, that wasn't my Dad.

She'd clearly thought I wasn't going to be here today.

I opened the kitchen door slowly, Jay was following close behind me.

I was right: she wasn't expecting me. Mom turned suddenly when we entered the room.

"Brooke? What are you doing here?"

"I live here," I narrowed my eyes towards her. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I had a few free days from work, so I thought I'd come and see you but you weren't here this morning." I saw Mom's eyes turn to Jay. "Where's Brad?"

 _Great fucking timing Mom, now was a really good time to bring him up._ I wanted to cringe.

"I don't know, and I don't care. This is Jay. Jay, this is my mom Victoria."

He moved from behind me and stuck out a palm towards her. She smiled over-elaborately and shook it. "Well it's nice to meet you Jay." She dropped his grip and reached towards her purse. "Oh I almost forgot Brooke," I watched as her fingers found her cheque-book. "Happy Birthday," she handed me a torn cheque with a couple of 0's at the end.

I held it into the air with a grimace and walked out of the room.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Out!" I pushed Jay out of the kitchen and shut the door behind me, shutting Mom from my view in the process.

"Brooke," Jay mumbled as he followed me up the stairs. "Brooke, I think your Mom wants to see you."

"Yeah, well I don't want to see her." There was no way she was gonna spoil my birthday. I wasn't going to let her. "She only wants to see me when it suits."

I refused to let her get to me, especially today.

"Brooke," his tone was sympathetic.

"Don't. Please, don't." I turned back to him. If I wasn't already emotional, the look on his face made me want to cry. I couldn't believe I'd had to introduce him to her this morning.

He didn't say anything else but followed me quietly into my bedroom and sat on the edge of my bed while I searched through the closet. I threw the cheque onto the bed while I looked for clothes.

I saw Jay pick it up from the corner of my eye. His jaw dropped.

"Holy shit Brooke, do you always get this many zeros on your birthday cheques?"

"Pretty much," I replied.

"Damn, I wish your Mom was my mom." He said.

"Trust me, no you don't. Now what do I need?" I turned to him, hoping he'd give me some sort of clue as to where we were going.

"Wear jeans or something," he smiled. "Oh, do you have a swimming costume?"

"Yes?" I frowned. "Do I need it?"

"That would be a good idea." He nodded.

I _hated_ that he was being so cryptic. But at the same time it kinda made me excited. "Anything else?"

"Something to sleep in. Underwear. You know, _stuff_."

I laughed. "So, like an overnight bag?" I turned around to face him. "Wait, am I not coming home tonight?"

"No, you are not." He teased.

"So I have all of those things, do I need anything else?"

"I think we're good," He moved from the bed towards where I was standing and wrapped his arms around me in an embrace. "I think we're good to go," he whispered.

"Okay," I spun in his arms so I was facing him. "Can we go then?"

He nodded. "Sure," A hand left my waist and caressed my face. "Are you alright?"

I returned his nod. "I'm fine," I kissed his lips lightly. "Let's get out of here."

I threw my clothes into a bag, going to throw it over my shoulder but Jay grabbed it and carried it instead. He followed me back down the stairs and out of the main door.

When we were back in his car, he turned up the radio. I saw his hands tapping along to the tunes on the station. I switched my eyes between watching him driving and looking out of the window.

It felt like we were driving for _forever_. I felt like my birthday was almost over by the time Jay eventually stopped the car. When he did, I had absolutely no idea where we were but it looked good.

We were surrounded by wood cabins, spaced so there was huge amounts of green between them. Jay stopped in front of one of them, killing the engine.

"Where are we?" I asked as I gazed out of the window.

"My Mom's log cabin," he grinned. "Come on, we'll go inside."

I jumped from the Jeep and felt the soft grass beneath my feet. Jay got both of our bags from the trunk and I followed him towards the door.

I'd never seen anything like them before. They looked like vacation cabins meant for families to occupy them.

Families that stuck together like Jay's.

"Brooke?" His voice was faint in my ear. "Are you coming?"

I followed him through the door and gasped.

He'd obviously already been here and had it planned, the inside was decorated with banners, balloons and candles.

"Jay, I love this." I said truthfully, dropping my purse onto one of the counters and wandering around the room. "You did this?"

He nodded. "I told you I wanted you to have a good birthday, I-"

A loud bang came from one of the rooms. He jumped in front of me just as one of the (I guessed?) bedroom doors opened. The older Halstead and his girlfriend tumbled out, much to the dismay and (I think) anger of his little brother.

"Will, what the hell are you doing here?" Jay sounded pissed off. "I told Mom me and Brooke were coming up here tonight."

"Relax, there's room for the four of us," Will seemed to find it funny that Jay was so angry. "We don't even have to be at the same end of the cabin, it'll be like me and Megan aren't even here. Oh, hey Brooke."

I waved.

"Bro, you are _such_ a jack-ass. Mom expected you for breakfast this morning too, I don't need a fucking baby-sitter. Aren't you going home?"

Megan pulled on her boyfriend's arm. "Maybe we should go? We _were_ here last night, too."

"See? Your girlfriend speaks a lot of sense." Jay said.

"Jay, can you chill?" Will walked towards us and opened one of the kitchen cupboards. "Besides, if I wasn't here would you have been able to get this?" He pointed onto the counter where there was a _lot_ of alcohol.

Jay's face softened a bit. "Okay, fair enough. But you can stay at _that_ end of the cabin because it's Brooke's birthday and me and her have this end." He narrowed his eyes at his brother.

Will's mouth opened and closed. "But that means-"

Jay smirked. "That's right, _we_ get the hot tub."

 **More to come for Brooke's birthday, it was just super long so the rest will be in the next update :)**

 **Please Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

The hot tub? Oh _shit._

I found the stand-off between Jay and his brother pretty funny, making eye contact with Megan as we rolled our eyes at them. Will looked defeated, but he didn't say anything. I watched as he turned away from his brother and then Jay focused his attention back on me.

He closed the gap between us and smiled softly. "I'm sorry about him, I didn't think they were gonna be here-"

"Hey, it's okay," I replied. He seemed genuinely pissed at his brother for ruining whatever he had planned. "At least this way, we can have a drink," I laughed.

"That's true," his smile broadened. "Come on, we can drop our stuff and head out."

Out? I thought a night at Ashley's cabin _was_ my birthday surprise. Apparently Jay had something else planned too. "What, where are we going?"

"Oh, you'll see," He intertwined our fingers and pulled me through the hallway into one of the rooms. A bedroom. I stopped myself from gasping when he pulled me through the door.

From the outside, the cabins looked like they'd be home to a few small bedrooms and whatever. On the inside though, it felt so much _bigger_. The bedroom Jay pulled me in was gray in color and my eyes darted to the different wall paintings and the decoration.

"Is your Mom an interior designer, or something?" I gawped.

He turned and laughed in my direction. "Not really, but she is pretty proud of this place," He dropped my hand and walked to throw our overnight bags on the bed. "When my parents got divorced, Mom was cut up at first. Then she found this lump of wood and turned it into, um, _this_." His eyes travelled towards the ceiling.

I nodded and walked towards the window. Jay had never spoken about his parents' divorce before, and I hadn't exactly thought he was going to bring it up. Still, it didn't seem to make him uncomfortable to talk about anymore. "She should be," I studied the view of green just outside the window pane. "This is seriously beautiful."

"Yeah. It is," he joined me at the window but wasn't looking at the exterior view. Instead, I felt his gaze on me so I turned to face him and I felt a flood of pink rush to my cheeks.

Jay pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear and kissed me softly. My eyelids fluttered closed as our lips connected and a shiver ran the entire length of my body.

The tiniest part of him was touching me and even that was enough to drive me crazy. Anything I'd felt with Brad was nothing in comparison, this felt _real_.

I opened my eyes as Jay willed himself from my lips.

"Damn it Brooke," he groaned. "I can't explain what you _do_ to me. We have things to do today and all I want to do is stay in this bedroom with you," he smirked.

I thumped a finger against his chest playfully. "Hey, you're the one that kissed me," I bit my bottom lip. "Although I wouldn't object to that-"

"No," Jay held my hand again and retraced our steps back to the hallway. "As much as I want that, I didn't bring you up here to spend all of our time doing _that_."

Okay, his statement made me a _little_ disappointed. But I was also intrigued as to where he was taking me. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to spend my eighteenth birthday in the main bedroom. Oh God, the master bedroom. This was probably where his _Mom_ slept when she stayed here. I felt a flood of color rush to my cheeks, and the worst we'd done was kiss in there.

It didn't go unnoticed by him and he turned back to me. "Is something up?"

I shook my head but laughed at the same time. "That's your Mom's bedroom, right?"

"I wouldn't technically call it anybody's bedroom," he raised an eyebrow. "But she does tend to sleep in there when she comes here, yeah." I nodded and he continued. "It's also the best room in this place, and that's what I want for you, especially when it's your birthday weekend."

"So, you have a bedroom here too?"

"There's quite a few bedrooms in here, Brooke." His brow was furrowing, probably not understanding why I was asking so many questions. "If you don't feel comfortable-"

I wrapped my free arm around his bicep. "No, I'm good."

My answer seemed to reassure him and I continued to walk in Jay's shadow until we were out of the cabin. We walked further until it was out of our sight and he led us to a sidewalk. The green-looking surroundings turned into eating places. Which was a good thing because I hadn't ate since breakfast.

Jay carried on leading me further down the road until we reached a small restaurant. "You hungry, birthday girl?"

"You read my mind," I laughed and watched as he pushed against the door.

A guy met us inside the door and Jay spoke a few sentences to him. Without even waiting, he led us into the restaurant and sat us at a booth. I looked straight down at the menu.

"What can I get you guys?" the server asked.

Jay looked over at me, so I went first. "I think I'll have the alfredo."

"And for you?" He focused his attention on Jay.

"Can I get the steak? And can we get a couple of lemonades?"

"Sure. I'll get those ordered for you guys."

Jay nodded a thanks before focusing back to me. "This is one of my favorite places up here, Brooke. The food in here is so good."

He was right, my pasta was so good. I left the smallest amount of it and watched as he devoured his steak. When he was finished, we slurped the last of the lemonade through straws and I reached for my purse.

"Hey, don't even think about it," he shot me a glare.

"But-"

"Brooke, I don't wanna hear it. I swear if you even take _any_ dollar bills from that purse I'll-"

He cut himself short but his threat kinda intrigued me. If I took money out, what was he going to do? I didn't have the opportunity to do it though because Jay paid on card before I had the chance.

Jay walked me from the restaurant with his arm settled firmly (but it felt nice) around my waist. By the time we reached the cabin area, it was starting to get dark. "Perfect," I heard leave his lips.

"Hmm?" I was only paying half attention, the scenery around the cabins still looked amazing in the darker light. My eyes travelled the length of where they stood until my gaze fell upon him. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll see," he replied.

I wasn't down for his continuous cryptic answers, but I couldn't help but feel even more intrigued. I couldn't believe the effort he'd gone to already to make my birthday the best it could. And he was _still_ keeping me in the dark.

When we were back to Ashley's cabin, Jay led me again to the bedroom we'd been in and turned on the light.

"So, remember that hot-tub I mentioned?" He raised an eyebrow.

 _Shit, yes I did._ I nodded my head.

"And that bikini you packed?" He started unzipping his own bag, found what he was looking for and walked towards the en-suite bathroom. (I totally didn't realize this the first time! Clearly I was distracted...)

I smiled wide and leaned against the doorframe for a minute. I liked the fact that he was still going to respect my privacy, even with everything that had already _happened_ between us. Brad would never have done something like that he would- hold up, there wasn't any need for me to think about that. He wasn't and never again would be my problem anymore.

I peeled away from the door support and searched for my bikini. I stepped out of my clothes and dressed instead in the swim costume. The blue lycra lay comfortably on my hips and I tied the strings across my back and around my neck.

Jay opened the door behind me. I know it was just the night before but I felt like I'd forgotten how _good_ his body looked. He'd stripped himself of his clothes too into swim slacks.

A crafty grin spread across his ever-so-handsome face. "I take it you're ready," his eyes drifted down my bare skin.

"I think so," I laughed, spinning to face him. "I do like hot-tubs."

"Me too," his eyes still hadn't found their way back to my face, but I didn't care at all.

Jay walked out of the bedroom first and I followed him along the hallway to the kitchen where he'd shouted at his brother. Will and Megan were already there, opening a few of the beers they'd brought with them.

I watched as Jay's face dropped a little bit when he saw them but then he diverted his attention the alcohol on the counter. He opened one of the beers for himself and then turned to me. "Did you want a drink, Brooke?"

"Sure," I smiled, wanting to feel guilty that I hadn't bought it and it wasn't mine to drink. Instead, I wanted to take a bunch of it along to the hot-tub with us. I joined Jay at the counter and looked at what Will and Megan had brought with them. It wasn't hard to work out that they were in college, the amount they'd brought was _crazy_. Especially if they'd thought it was just gonna be the two of them.

My eyes were drawn to the hard lemonade and beer bottles and Jay picked them out for me. He opened them quickly before balancing the bottle necks between his fingers. He jolted his head towards the opposite side of the cabin before he started walking. I followed him close behind.

"Hey, there's definitely room for four in that hot tub," I heard Will shout from behind me.

"Go fuck yourself," Jay threw one of his fingers into the air and a smirk spread across his face. I knew he was doing it to piss Will off, but it was funny.

When we reached the end of the hallway Jay stopped beside a glass sliding door. He lowered the beer bottles to the floor and unlocked the door that was in front of us. The cool breeze hit me as soon as he did, but my eyes went wide as I spotted the hot tub. Of course it was big enough for four people, but I _definitely_ wasn't going to complain if it was just me and Jay.

"This is my favorite part of the log cabin, by far." He smiled before reaching for the bottles and (somehow?) balancing them in one of his hands. With his other, he reached and linked our fingers. I followed in his footsteps out onto the decking.

Oh my God it's _cute_. I don't know if he's just done it for tonight but there's rows of soft lighting wrapped around the wood and a birthday banner stuck along one side of the tub. The water in the tub is already bubbling and I don't know if it's because there's a slight chill or whether I'm just happy to be here with him but I can't wait any longer to get in there.

Jay finds the dips in the ceramic where he can balance the beer bottles and keeps hold of my hand as I walk up the stairs to the warm water. I suck in a breath when my skin comes in contact with the water, it's hotter than I expected it to be but I like it. Jay follows behind me and we both sink down until only our shoulders, neck and faces are out of the water.

I leaned my head back against the side and shut my eyes. Yep, I could get used to this.

Jay is laughing. "I take it you like this too?" When I heard him talking, I opened my eyes and took one of the beers from his hand.

"Mhm," I raised the bottle to my lips and took a long drink. I stretch my neck to either side as I feel the water relaxing my muscles. "Oh God, I could get used to it."

"Yeah?" Jay took a drink of his beer too. "Maybe we could come up here more often," his gaze fixates on me.

"Wait, really?" I thought he'd brought me up here to show me the place. "Would your Mom be okay with that?"

"Brooke, she wouldn't mind at all." Jay shuffled closer, his arm nearest to me moving to rest around my shoulders. "She wouldn't mind, she likes you."

"I like her too," I knew from the couple of times I'd seen Ashley that she was a hundred times the Mom that _Bitchtoria_ could ever be. "Your Mom's really great, Jay."

He laughed. "I think I'm done talking about my _Mom_ ," his face moves closer to me and he kisses me, biting against my lower lip before tangling his tongue with mine. I lose myself for a second and almost mix my beer into the hot tub water.

The fact I almost spilled it makes me laugh into the kiss, his eyes fluttering open when he feels me giggling.

"What are you laughing at, you goof?" He pulls an inch away from my face and joins with my laughter.

"Nothing, except you almost made me spill beer into the water. I'm sure your Mom would _love_ me for that," I grinned.

"You gotta stop talking about my Mom when I'm kissing you, Brooke." He frowns for a second but then smiles. "I want my Mom to be the last thing on my mind right now," Jay pulls a face when he says 'Mom' again.

I turned to the side and balanced my bottle on the ceramic. Within seconds, my attention is back on him and that's exactly where I want it to be. "Okay, forgive me," I close the gap between us. One of my hands rises from the water and I tangle my fingers in the scruff on his face. I hope he never shaves that off because it's _hot_. Shit.

I'm kissing him again and this time I can get into it (not that I wasn't into it before) without fretting about dropping something in the water. I feel him moan against my mouth and his free hand wraps around my back, dangerously close to where the strings are tied at my spine.

My front teeth bite down on his bottom lip and he lets me into the crevices of his mouth. There's no space left between our bodies but it's not enough for me.

I move my body so I'm straddling his knee. There's no room between where his back is and the side of the hot tub so I fold my legs under myself and sit against him. I'm pretty impressed that I can manoeuvre even without breaking our make-out session.

I'm just as impressed when he manages to get rid of the beer bottle without breaking us apart either. Suddenly both of his arms are wrapped around me and I'm tight in his embrace. I wrap my own hands around his neck and felt his chest against my own.

One of his hands twists itself into my damp hair. I've always loved it when people played with my hair but Jay doing it was more of a turn on than it had ever been before.

I couldn't ignore the growing bulge in his swim shorts as I straddled over him. His erection pressed against me and made a noise escape from my throat. This would _definitely_ make my birthday better, if that was possible. Oh God I wanted this…

The tub went quiet as the bubbles came to a stop. It distracted Jay first and I felt his grip around my back loosen. "Damn it, if this is Will's idea of a joke-" he groaned.

I pursed my lips and sat beside him. I wanted to laugh at the timing of the bubbles going off but at the same time I felt disappointed that we were interrupted. I was into that make-out and if it _was_ Will's fault, now his younger brother wasn't the only one who was pissed at him.

"Oh. Wait," Jay's body spun behind and his attention was drawn to something beneath the water. It was another couple of seconds before the bubbles came back into action. When he turned back to face me he was smiling. "So apparently that was your fault, not Will's," he smirked.

"My fault?" I pretended to be shocked. "I think you'll find _you're_ the one who was leaning against the button. Not me," I raised my eyebrows.

Jay beckoned me closer with his finger. "Is that your attempt to be sassy with me?" I smiled and shrugged. "Because that's fucking _hot_."

I picked up my beer bottle and let him drape his arm around me again. "Oh, you totally haven't seen that side of me yet. I'm just getting started," I replied.

"Oh boy," he laughed and pressed his lips against the side of my head. "What have I got myself in for?"

I slapped a hand against his chest.

"So how is your eighteenth birthday shaping up, Brooke Davis? How did I do?" he almost whispered, as though he was afraid of the answer.

There was literally no need for him to be, though. "Seriously? This is amazing, Jay."

"Yeah?" He looks happy with himself. "What usually happens on my birthday?"

I drank the last of the beer. "Oh, I'd probably go shopping with Peyton and then she'd crash at my place. It's the same every year really, but it's good."

"Well I kinda feel bad for ruining your plans," he smiled.

"You shouldn't," I reassured. "This is way better than any shopping trip, so you should feel special," I laughed and he joined in too. "Plus, I still get the sleepover."

Jay's tongue traced the surface of his lower lip. I think I saw a look of relief on his face as well. What, was he expecting me to say I didn't want to share a bed with him or something? After what happened between us last night? Definitely not happening.

"Very true," he said. The corners of his mouth dropped a little. "So, you really never spend your birthday with your parents?"

I shook my head. "I don't. You saw my Mom Jay, she's hardly ever hope. And I'm used to it that way. It's how it's been since I was about twelve."

His brow furrowed and the arm that was I wrapped in tensed. "I'm sorry. I can't believe they would wanna leave you alone, especially on your birthday. Brooke, even if I'm with you for a couple of hours I find myself wanting to spend the whole day with you."

I reached my hand to his and laced our fingers. He's the sweetest.

"And what about your Dad? Is he as bad as your Mom?"

I swallowed. Usually I didn't like my parents to be the topic of discussion but with Jay, I didn't mind really. It was just so easy to talk to him, and I figured he was actually interested instead of just snooping.

"The last time I saw my Dad was Christmas. I haven't seen him in a while. He also works away a lot."

"So they leave you alone in that huge house?"

"Not exactly, there's a housekeeper. Although ever since I turned sixteen she doesn't find the need to look after me a lot. So basically I have the house to myself most of the time."

He was nodding. "So I guess both of our Dads are douchebags."

I turned my face towards him. I was pretty sure he'd never brought his Dad up before. The most I knew was that his parents weren't together anymore and they'd moved to Tree Hill without him. If I was opening up to him though, I was definitely down for him to do the same.

"Your Dad?" I asked.

"If you can call him that," Jay shrugged. "I guess we were pretty close when I was growing up. Then last year he just suddenly changed. He would snap at my Mom and it made me so mad. Mom found out he was seeing somebody else but kept it from Will and I because she knew I was mad at him already. If I'd have known, that would have sent me over the edge and I… I could have hit him. My Mom didn't deserve that sort of disrespect so she said we were leaving and me and Will decided to come with her. As soon as she said she wanted to move away, we kinda figured what was going on."

I got the sense that Jay hadn't told anybody about this before because the story obviously still affected him. I could see his free hand had clenched into a fist just at the thought of his father.

It made me extremely happy that Jay had decided to open up to me like I'd stripped myself bare in front of him. But I didn't want him to end up upset tonight.

"Hey," I leaned into his chest. "We don't have to talk about him."

"Yeah, you're right," Jay nodded. "Are you okay? If you're cold, we can go inside?"

I shook my head. If I could, I was perfectly happy to stay in the hot tub for the rest of the night. But I knew we couldn't do that _and_ there was a bedroom waiting for us.

Except I just didn't want this birthday to end.

"Brooke, this water is gonna make us look like prunes. Why don't we go inside?" He suggested.

Yeah, he was right. As much as it felt like an absolute dream to be in the hot tub, we were going to have to move sometime. And it would take us a while to dry off before we could even think about getting into that plush bed.

I nodded my head. "Sure, let's go inside." I sunk my shoulders into the water once more and then followed Jay back to the decking. I watched as he flicked a switch and the outside turned to darkness. Then he gathered the beer bottles into one hand and slid the door open with his other. I followed him back into the hallway, feeling guilty that I was leaving a trail of dripping water behind me.

"Jay, the floor. Did you bring a towel?"

"Relax Brooke, the flooring is wooden. You don't have to worry about that," He turned to wink at me.

When we reached the kitchen it was empty so I figured Will and Megan had already gone to bed. Jay piled the empty bottles onto the counter before leaning against his and resting his palms on the bench.

If Will and his girlfriend had already gone to bed, how long had we been in that hot tub? It was obviously longer than I thought, the time had gone so quickly.

"What time is it?"

Jay bent to glance at the digits that were shining from the microwave. "It's almost 11, which is good."

I frowned. "Good?"

"It means there's still an hour left of your birthday." He pushed himself away from the counter and pulled me towards the bedroom. "Come on."

There was absolutely no point in me asking what he meant. I'd already tried that twice tonight and Jay had made it clear he wasn't going to tell me. So I let him guide me along the dimly lit hallway.

When we reached the bedroom Jay walked into the bathroom and returned with a bathrobe. He wrapped the fuzzy material around my shoulders.

"I might have got you a birthday gift," he said as he walked around to face me.

Oh, what? A birthday present too? I didn't know what to say. He'd brought me to his Mom's cabin for the night, decorated it, took me for a meal and I had a gift as well? _Holy_.

"Jay, you really didn't have to do that," my insides were melting.

"I wanted to," He left my side and walked over to where his overnight bag was. I saw him rummaging for a second before he pulled out a purple gift bag. "Happy birthday, Brooke."

He pushed the bag towards me and I suddenly felt a little scared to open it. There was a bunch of tissue paper hiding whatever was in there. My hands came to life and I reached under the paper until my hands fumbled a box. I put the bag on the floor by my feet and lifted the box free.

I felt Jay's eyes on me as I opened it. It was a silver charm bracelet, and usually I don't like to wear too much jewellery but this one was _pretty_. And _definitely_ didn't look like it had come from a discounted store.

I stared at it in awe. "Jay-"

"Do you like it?" Was he really concerned that I didn't like it?

"Are you kidding? It's beautiful," I studied the individual loops of silver. It wasn't until I took it from the box that I noticed he'd added a charm to it too. It looked like…popcorn?

"I figured our first not-date was the time we went to the movies," he laughed. "The time you sent popcorn flying through the air when the movie made you jump."

I was actually surprised he remembered our first outing together in so much detail. He was right: it was the night we decided against working on our project and the night I told him I didn't like horror movies.

It was probably the most personal and thoughtful gift I've ever received. Was it possible that I'd only known him for a matter of weeks? Because it sure as hell felt a lot longer. "Could you put it on for me?"

Jay laughed, reaching down to the floor and grabbing the box I'd discarded. "Brooke, we're headed to bed. You don't need to wear it through the night." He caressed my cheek with the back of his hand. "I'll put it where it belongs in the morning," he added.

I gave him the bracelet and he put it back into the box, setting it on the vanity.

"Thank you," I whispered, watching as he walked from the vanity to close the bedroom door and turn out the light. We were temporarily in darkness until he switched on the bedside lamp.

"You don't have to thank me," he grinned, his fingers toying with the material of the robe. I know he'd draped it over my body to warm me from the cool air but shit, I didn't need it now. I undid the robe myself and let it fall to the floor.

Jay grinned, closed the gap between us and leaned down to nuzzle against my neck. I didn't realize what his hands were doing until I felt the ties fall loose of my bikini. I half expect him to push me backwards, onto the bed but instead he steps back away from me and runs his eyes over my burning skin. It's not hard to see they're dark and dreamy, even though there isn't much light in the room.

"Are you sure?"

Um, what? Did I dream last night? Did I not make it clear enough that I was into him? This was literally _everything_ I craved. "Positive. Why, are you-"

"Hell no, I was just checking this is what you want Brooke because I know for sure it's what I do."

How was this guy _real_? He's giving me control even though he doesn't need to. He's making it seem as though this is my choice.

 _He's my choice._

I gaze into his eyes for a second and the tone of my own voice actually surprises me. Probably a mix of alcohol, impatience and just full-on wanting and needing him.

"Jay, please. I want this so bad,"

He smiles in response, one that spreads even to his eyes and in one swift move he's free of his robe too. I hadn't realized he'd already freed himself from his wet swim shorts when he'd gone into the bathroom. He's all lean muscle and broad shoulders, and I didn't recall him being this sculpted last night. _Must pay more attention._ Jay had incredibly chiselled lines that run down his hips and I'm fairly surprise I'm still able to function properly.

Jay runs his fingers along the bare skin of my arms, allowing them to roam the skin of my stomach and down to the only item of clothing I'm left wearing. He pushes his hands between the fabric and my ass, cupping it for a second before pulling my bikini panties down my bare legs.

Shit this boy is good with his hands!

I murmur his name as he stands up again.

"Easy, Brooke." In a quick move he lifts me and I'm cradled in his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck and he's kissing me softly by the time he lowers me onto the bed. He whispers things against my throat and I can't do anything but close my eyes and grip the comforter as soon as I feel it beneath me. "You're so beautiful, Brooke."

My mouth curls into a smile as he lets his lips travel further down my body. "Oh, God-" my body's response to him is overwhelming.

When he hears my voice, I can almost feel him smiling against my skin. He doesn't spend too much time on the lower half of me which I'm thankful for because I want to see his face. His lips travel back up to my shoulder and he kisses it then my neck and I just about come up off the bed.

In the next minute he's bracing himself on his elbows on either side of my head and he's pushing strands of hair away from my (I'm sure of it) flushed face. His piercing green eyes are shining with need and his mouth opens as his breathing gets heavier.

I swear I've never felt so wanted, and so needed, by anybody in my life.

"I don't think you know how amazing you are, Brooke Davis," Jay rubs his nose against mine and traces a line of my lips.

It's my turn for my breathing to hitch. "Not half as amazing as you make me feel."

"I want you," his whisper is sultry and I feel his impressive erection against me so I tilt my hips in invitation.

"Yes," my teeth clamp onto my lower lip.

One of his fingers reaches between us and he gently rests it against my entrance. I arch and gasp because I can feel his touch even all the way to my toes.

Then his mouth is hungrily on mine, kissing me hard and deep and I feel his finger slip lower inside me. He feels it too because a moan escapes his throat.

"Brooke, you're so ready," and I know what he's referring to.

"I want you," I repeat the words he's just said to me.

Jay slips his finger in and out of me, and then he adds another one and I suddenly feel like I might die from the sensations jolting all around my body.

I wrap my hands around his back and tilt further in his direction. "Please," I ask.

"Two minutes."

What? Two minutes?!

Quickly he dives from his resting place on top of me and reaches into his rucksack, pulling out a foil packet. I wait (im!)patiently as he tears it open, his eyes locked on me and he rolls it down himself. He leans over me again, positioned outside my entrance.

I run my fingers down my spine again, lifting my legs too. He kisses me again then slowly, so fucking slowly, eases into me.

"God," I breathe as his eyes close tight and his forehead almost rests on mine.

"Brooke," he whispers.

Jay pushes into me, all the way and stops. When I start to move my hips, he stops me and stares down at me. "Wait."

I wanna move. I want him to pulse in and out of me, to make me erupt around him but he looks so _calm_.

"Fuck," he whispers, and he starts to move again gaining momentum. I'm keeping my hips up with him and he establishes a rhythm between us. With each move, he kisses me again and one of his hands is tangled in my hair.

I run my hands the length of his back, pretty sure I've scarred it with my nails. He doesn't seem to care. Jay pulls a hand down my chest, to my lip and he hooks a knee over him to open me wider. I ignore the slight uncomfortableness because it's overtaken by my need.

Every hair on my body is on end and I can't do anything except bury my face in his neck.

"Yes, babe, let go."

And I do, letting my body have a fit around him.

"Shit, _Jay_." I wanted emphasize his name.

A minute later and I feel him stiffen and push into me a couple more times before he's emptied himself inside me. It's like he doesn't want to move afterwards but he does, falling into the free space beside me on the bed. He's gotten rid of the condom before I have a chance to move, my whole body turned to jello.

My breathing calms and my vision becomes clearer and I move onto my side so I'm nestled as close to his chest as I can be. One of my hands rests against his torso and I look at his face as he catches his breath too.

The bedroom is quiet for now but it's the best sort of quiet. I know neither of us have to say anything for a while.

Jay turned his head towards me and kissed my forehead. "I know I keep saying this Brooke, but you really are amazing."

And I think I can start to believe him. The fact he keeps saying it makes me realize it could be true. Except nobody has ever told me I'm amazing before.

"I just had one more thing to ask before…uh," _Sleep? Go again? Shower?_ He didn't finish the sentence.

"What is it?" I knew there was a little uncertainty in his tone.

"I've never done this before but um, I was wondering… maybe you could….be, um, my girlfriend?"

 _Yes, yes, yes._ I didn't even need to think about that. I didn't even want to hesitate. I found it sweet that he'd asked though. This definitely told me that he felt the same way I did, and it was _the_ best way to end my birthday. I nodded against his chest and almost heard it when he smiled.

 **Please Review :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Living in a Brooke and Jay bubble definitely didn't suck. If I could, I would stay here for the rest of the week…

"Brooke, hey, wake up," a warm breath whispered into my ear and I turned around, met with Jay's face. I was surprised to find he hadn't moved his arm from around me, even after we'd gone to sleep. It would definitely be dead this morning.

"Good morning," I smiled and lifted onto my elbows, laying on my stomach.

"Yep," Jay cradled one of my cheeks in his hand and kissed me gently. "Did you sleep okay?" He asked, with genuine concern in his voice.

I nodded and lay back across the pillow, this time facing him. "Did you?"

"Like a baby," he laughed, dragging a hand through his morning hair. Then I felt it creep up the length of my back and he started tracing his fingers in lines on my back. Of course it sent shivers up and down me. "I like this waking up next to you thing," he continued.

"Yeah, me too."

Jay rolled onto his side and pressed a finger against his cell phone that was beside the bed. "Holy shit, it's almost 1! I don't think I've ever slept in that long," he laughed. "Maybe we should get up."

"I suppose we should," I replied and rolled out of the bed myself. I'd fallen asleep in the warmth of his embrace and the goose-bumps erupted on my skin as soon as I got out from beneath the comforter. I watched as Jay got out of his side of the bed and walked towards the bathroom, then I heard the sound of the shower.

I straightened out the blankets and walked around the room, picking up the bath robe and draping it around my shoulders. My eyes darted to the TV stand where Jay had dropped my bracelet last night. It was still there, the silver charm dangling over the side. My fingers trailed the links of it; how could it be I'd known this guy a few months and he'd bought me one of the best presents I'd ever had?

I wrapped the fastening around my wrist and positioned the popcorn charm so everybody would see it.

The bracelet was just the topping of the time I'd had with Jay at the cabin. The place itself was really pretty and not just the inside. I walked over to the window and stared at the view, there was something about being here with him. Away from home and away from school and away from Bitchtoria.

"Eighteen looks good on you Brooke Davis," Jay's voice drifted from the next room and I spun to find his face sticking out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, I'm kinda liking it," I smiled and walked across the carpet towards him. He was fresh from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. I gulped.

So did he. "Okay, in the shower you," he squeezed between where I was standing and the doorframe, looking back over his shoulder before he disappeared from my sight. I laughed and let the robe drop from my body and stepped into the already-running hot water.

Even the shower in this place was amazing. My eyes slid closed as the hot water dripped down me and pooled at my feet. I shut off the water and wrapped myself in the remaining towel next to the shower.

Jay wasn't in the bedroom when I got back, so I found the spare clothes I'd packed for today and dried myself. I repacked the over-night bag with the swim suit I'd carelessly left on the floor last night, and the clothes I'd changed out of, before I went to find Jay.

He was in the kitchen, still half-dressed. "How do you feel about pancakes?" He said without even turning, apparently knowing I was there.

"Pancakes sound great," I walked up behind him and leaned against the counter.

"Then sit," his eyes darted to the breakfast bar and he grinned. "There's almost done."

I wandered across to the stools and sat in one of them, leaning up on my elbows.

"I think my brother and Megan left already," Jay said as he walked towards us with breakfast. I'd forgotten about Will and his girlfriend actually, Jay made it seem as though we had the cabin to ourselves. Which we did _now_. "That's just like him, to leave me behind to clean up whatever mess he's made," he joked.

"Hey, it doesn't look like there's a lot to clean," I scanned the room. Will and Megan had hung here while we'd been in the hot tub.

"You're right, he's just an ass," Jay laughed through a mouthful of batter. "Did you have plans for today?"

I shook my head. "Not really, I was just gonna catch up with Peyton."

"Yeah? What time?"

"Oh not until later. I'll call round to her house later."

He scraped the last of his pancakes onto his fork. "So you have free time before that?"

"I do," I nodded.

"So you can come back to my place for a few hours? After we drive back?"

"Sure," I finished my breakfast too.

"Only if you want to," he said suddenly, looking right at me. "If you have-"

"I wanna spend time with my boyfriend."

He grinned. "Cool. Are you okay with driving back soon then?"

"Sure," I stood from the stool and took the empty dishes over to the washer.

"Hey, you don't have to do that," Jay joined me at the counter and took the dishes from my grip. Then his arm snaked around my waist. "I'm gonna pack the car, will you grab our stuff?"

I peeled away from his embrace and walked back along to the bedroom. I grabbed our stuff and met Jay out by the car.

"So, you're cool with coming back to my place for a while?" He asked as we pulled away.

I started to think he couldn't get sick of me, which was a good thing because I couldn't get enough of him. he didn't even need to be concerned that I wanted to go home. I would be going home to an empty house anyway, although I _did_ need to see Peyton at some point. "That's fine with me," I smiled.

We chatted all the way back to his street and it felt like we got there in no time. Ashley was waiting for us when we got inside.

"Oh Brooke," she smiled and –you got it- hugged me when we went through the door. "I didn't expect you guys back so soon."

When I thought about it, Jay didn't actually mention why he wanted to leave sooner. But I didn't think anything of it.

Jay followed me inside. He threw his own bag onto the floor of the hallway and threw the cabin keys at his Mom.

"Thanks for letting us stay up there, Ashley," I said. "I had a great time up there," I flashed a glance towards Jay.

"Oh you kids are welcome," she laughed. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?" Ashley turned away from us, tightened the hair tie holding her pony and walked back towards the kitchen.

When she was gone, Jay dropped my bag onto the floor too and reached for my hand. He started to laugh nervously. "We've spent this whole weekend in a birthday bubble," he grinned. "And you do realize this project thing is in for next week, right? I hate to end your birthday weekend on work and stuff but-"

"Crap!" Of course school and work had been at the back of my mind. I hadn't even thought about class and what we actually had to do for the project.

"Maybe we could squeeze in another movie before you go home?" He sounded reassuring, as if this project would be a breeze. I nodded and followed him towards his bedroom. But then he spun around.

"Wait, are you thirsty? I could get us soda or something," he was already walking in the opposite direction towards the kitchen. I followed him again.

Ashley was in there, sitting at the breakfast bar reading one of her magazines. I stood at the other end to her and watched as Jay walked towards the refrigerator.

"Hey Mom, don't we have any lemonade?" He stuck his head around the corner, looking at his Mom.

"I think there might be some in the outhouse. I'll go-" she offered.

"No I got it," He left me alone with Ashley while he went in search of soda. "I'll be right back."

Ashley continued to talk to me even though her attention was still focused on whatever she was reading. "So you guys had fun this weekend?"

"Yes," I nodded, and it was true. _Obviously I wasn't gonna go into detail_ I tried to reply politely. "Your cabin is awesome, Ashley."

"Yeah? I'm glad you think so," her gaze lifted onto me. She spotted the bracelet around my wrist and broadened her smile. "Oh, I see he gave you that," she pointed, as if I didn't know what she was talking about. "It suits you."

"I love it," my eyes fell to my own wrist then, admiring the gift Jay had given me for my birthday. _One of them_.

Ashley closed her magazine and rested her elbows against the breakfast bar. "He's really into you, Brooke," she nodded. "So I want you to feel at home whenever you're here, okay? I've never seen him like this with any other girl before," she paused then and I think she regretted what she said.

I didn't know what she meant by the comment, but suddenly I was curious. "You met…girls he was with before?"

Jay's mom's eyes widened and I knew she didn't want to talk to me about it. Ashley looked as if she wanted to kick herself for opening her mouth to begin with, but now I _wanted_ to know.

She sighed. "I…yes. His ex-girlfriend, she never came round to our house. I hardly knew she existed until Jay spoke about her. So I just wanted you to know… you are always welcome here, I don't want you to stay away for any reason."

Okay, I know it was early stages of mine and Jay's relationship, but was I comfortable with talking about the girl he'd been with before me? Clearly he wasn't a virgin when I met him, not that I'd ever thought he was. But hearing it, especially from his Mom, made me feel weird. And kinda jealous.

The look on my face made Ashley continue. "Brooke, I shouldn't have even opened my mouth. That was a stupid thing for me to say. She's not even in this town, and I see the way Jay looks at you. And the way he talks about you when you're not here…"

I chewed on my lip, praying for Jay to come back into the room soon.

He did, holding a lemonade bottle. I watched as his eyes flitted between me and his Mom. "Is everything okay?"

I nodded and tried to smile so he wouldn't ask what was wrong. Chewed on my lip. If he knew something was up, he didn't say anything. "Of course," I pretended to check my cell, took it from my pants pocket. "I should get going though, I said I would go see Peyton," I finished quietly. Now he would know something was up, because I'd said I wanted to stay.

"Now?" There was hurt in his voice and I suddenly felt bad, but I kinda didn't want to stay. Going to see Peyton was what I needed for a few hours.

I nodded again and watched as Jay set the bottle of the counter and grabbed for my hand, pulling me through into the hallway and towards the door. So we were out of sight of his Mom.

"Brooke, what's up?" This time, there was definite concern in his voice and a _big_ part of me didn't want to leave. I know his Mom hadn't meant it, but the comments got to me. I only needed to be away for a few hours…

"I'm okay," I tried to reassure him but it was obvious he didn't believe me. Jay squeezed my hand as we got to the door, and he picked up my overnight bag with the free one. "Did you want a ride over to Peyton's?"

If he knew something was up, I didn't want to give him more to believe that. "Please," I smiled and followed him towards the car. Half way there, I gave him the directions to her house and then he killed the engine.

Jay sighed. "I'm sorry if I sounded selfish, I've had you this whole weekend. You should go spend time with your best friend," he said and ran a hand through his hair.

 _Oh crap_. Now he was thinking my mood was something to do with _him_. And I didn't want that. I unbuckled my seat-belt and leaned towards his side of the car. I closed my eyes and kissed him, pushing him backwards into his driver's seat.

"Jay, you're not selfish," I replied, breaking our lips apart. "I'll call you?"

"Yes, do that," he nodded, a reassuring smirk spreading across his cheeks. "I'll see you," he finished as I got out of his truck. I reached into the trunk for my bag and waved as I walked towards Peyton's house.

She was already at the door before I had the chance to knock. "Oh hey B Davis, so you finally remember I existed?"

I shot her a look before following her inside, shutting her door behind me. I dropped my bag and followed her through the hallway and into the kitchen. It didn't look like her Dad was home, which was a good thing because I was pretty sure I didn't want to have this conversation when he was there.

Peyton dropped into a chair and rested her chin in her hands, her elbows on the table. "Come on then, spill," she raised her eyebrows.

I laughed before sitting next to her. "What do you want to know?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Peyton squealed. "Tell me about your weekend."

My eyes slid closed as I thought back to last night. _The cabin, the hot tub, the…_

"Quit reliving it and tell me!" She shook one of my arms with her hand.

"Peyton, it was great," I opened my eyes to find her staring at me. "I really like him," I replied.

"Duh, I could have told you that _weeks_ ago. Tell me what happened, and start with Friday night," she shuffled in the chair as if she expected to be sitting there a while. _She probably was gonna be, if she wanted to know everything_.

I would have got through the story a lot quicker if she didn't keep interrupting me…

I knew she would have something to say when I told her about Friday.

"Wait," her hands slammed onto the counter top. "You mean you-"

"Yes," I laughed at her interruption.

"Well shit," she laughed back. "So, how did it go?"

I grimaced at first: did she really wanna know? Of course she did, she was Peyton. I groaned. "It was….hot," the only word I could think of to describe it.

She was gonna make a sassy comment, it was coming. "I'm so happy for you Brooke, he seems great," she smiled. "Better than the ex, huh?"

I shot her a look. "You know I never had sex with him," so she wanted me to say it.

"Welcome to the club," Peyton laughed and so did I. She's my best friend, of course, but there's some things you wanna keep to yourself, right? So this was the end of _that_ conversation.

I think she sensed I was done talking. "So, did you eat yet?"

"I had breakfast," I replied. "We could go for lunch?" I knew Peyton could knock me up food but she was pretty bad at cooking. I knew it, and she knew it too.

"Awesome," she ran towards the door. "I'll grab my coat."


End file.
